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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions 


Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


1980 


1 


Technical  Notes  /  Notes  techniques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copv     vailable  for  filming.  Physical 
features  of  thi^i  copy  which  may  alter  any  of  the 
images  in  the  reproduction  are  checked  below. 


n 
n 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couvertures  de  couleur 


Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  g6ographiques  en  couleur 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachetdes  ou  piquies 


Tight  binding  (may  cause  shadows  or 
distortion  along  interior  margin)/ 
Reliure  serrd  (peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou 
de  la  distortion  le  long  de  la  marge 
intdrieure) 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6tA  possible  de  se  procurer.  Certains 
difauts  susceptibles  de  nuire  A  la  quality  de  la 
reproduction  sont  not^s  ci-dessous. 


D 
D 


D 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 


Coloured  plates/ 
Planches  en  couleur 


Show  through/ 
Transparence 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag^es 


Th< 
pof 
of  1 
filn 


Th« 
coi 
cr 
api 

Th( 
filr 
ins 


Me 
in  ( 
upi 
boi 
fol 


D 


Additional  comments/ 
Commentaires  suppl^mentaires 


Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  bibliographiques 


D 
D 

n 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Re\\6  avec  d'autres  documents 


Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


D 
D 

D 


Pagination  incorrect/ 
Erreurs  de  pagination 


Pages  missing/ 
Des  pages  manquent 


Maps  missing/ 

Des  cartes  g6ographiques  manquent 


□ 


Plates  missing/ 

Des  planches  manquent 


Additional  comments/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche  shall 
contain  the  symbol  -^(meaning  CONTINUED"), 
cr  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"),  whichever 
applies. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
de  la  netteti  de  I'exemplaire  film6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la  der- 
nidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le  cas: 
le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le  symbole 
y  signifie  "FIN". 


The  original  copy  was  borrowed  from,  and 
filmed  with,  the  kind  consent  of  the  following 
institution: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'exemplaire  filmd  fut  reproduit  grflce  d  la 
g6n6rosit6  de  l'6tablissement  prdteur 
suivant : 

Bibliothdque  nationale  du  Canada 


Maps  or  plates  too  large  to  be  entirely  included 
in  one  exposure  are  filmed  beginning  in  the 
upper  Inft  hand  corner,  left  to  right  and  top  to 
bottom,  as  many  frames  as  required.  The 
following  diagrams  illustrate  the  methoJ: 


Les  cartes  ou  les  planches  trop  grandes  pour  dtre 
reproduites  en  un  seul  cliche  sont  film6es  A 
partir  de  Tangle  supdrieure  gauche,  de  gauche  d 
droite  et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n6cessaire.  Le  diagramme  suivant 
illustre  la  mdthode  : 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

lie  drew  me  down  m  as  to  .speak  three  words 


in  my  ear. 


(P.  m.) 


"> 


ENGLISHMAN'S    HAVEN 


BY 


W.   J.   GORDON 

AUTHOR    OF    THE    CAI'TAIN-cihNERAL,    ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW    YORK 
D.     APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1892 


c/', 


Copyright,  1892, 
By  D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


Printed  at  the 
Appleton  Press,  U.  S.  A. 


P  H  E  F  A  C  E . 


HIS  is  the  story  of  Louisbourg,  that  Key  of 
3  Empire,  whicli,  owing  to  the  consequences  of 
its  fall,  is  one  of  the  most  notal)le  of  the 
world\s  (lead  cities.  Like  a  nightmare  the 
elaborate  stronghold  lay  upon  Englishman's  Haven, 
and  like  a  nightmare  it  vanished.  Founded,  forti- 
fied, captured,  and  destroyed  all  within  a  lifetime, 
its  history  would  be  sufficiently  remarkable  even 
without  the  prospect  of  the  new  town's  future. 


W.  J.  G. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 
I. 
II. 
III. 

IV. 
V. 

Aa. 

VII. 
VIII. 
IX. 
X. 
XI. 
XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 
XV. 
XVI. 
XVII. 
XVIII. 


PAGE 

(treenook 2 

The  Mystery g 

The  Fort jg 

The  Block-house 3^^ 

The  Crusade ^g 

The  Cajh^ -^ 

The  Legend gQ 

The  Battery (^g 

The  Triuiuph ^^ 

The  Snare ^gg 

The  Alarm 150 

The  Treaty ^73 

The  Capture jg^ 

The  Prison 207 

The  Escape 027 

The  Landing 240 

The  Second  Siege 257 

The  Farewell 278 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FACINO 
PAGE 

He  drew  ine  down  so  as  to  speak  three  words  in  my  ear 

Frontispiece 

"  Please,  your  honor,  there  is  an  Indian  at  the  gate  " 21 

"  One  ! "    And  he  pointed  his  finger  at  the  sergeant 77 

I  scrambled  in ^q^ 

With  many  a  caution  from  Angel,  off  I  went 165 

He  stood  at  the  door  and  smoked,  while  I  wrote  home 214 

"Sir,  here's  a  new  Father  Neptune  come  up  to  you  out  of 
the  set?. " 236 

Down  came  the  lilied  ensign ;   up  went  the  cross  of  St. 
George 273 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


CHAPTER    I. 


GREENOCK. 

>TAND  clear  there !  " 

"Time    enough,   man,   time   enough!^ 
said  a  voice  in  the  crowd. 

And  there  was  a  loud   laugh   of   the 
guffaw  variety. 

"  Obstinate  as  a  mule,  say  you  ?    Obstinate  as  a 
sheep,  say  I ! "  said  one  man. 

"It^s  no'  so  pleasant  landing  for  the  shambles ! » 
said  another. 

The  men  had  driven  the  sheep  to  the  side  of 
the  boat,  but  there  was  no  getting  them  off. 

If  one  could  be  persuaded  on  to  the  straight 

road,  all  would  be  well. 
1 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


ii 


"  Stand  clear  there ! "  shouted  a  sailor  from  the 
deck. 

It  was  a  grand  contest  of  strength.  Pull  man, 
pull  mutton !  The  man  had  gripped  the  sheep  by 
the  neck,  and  the  crowd  roared  at  the  struggle, 
which  for  a  minute  or  so  was  equal.  It  was  a  real 
tug-of-war. 

"  One !  two !  three !  "  And  at  the  "  three  "  the 
sheep  was  hauled  out  on  to  the  gangway,  resisting 
its  utmost  notwithstanding.  Suddenly  the  animal 
bounded  forward,  and  the  man,  stumbhng  back- 
ward, missed  his  footing  and  fell  into  the  water. 
On  went  the  sheep  with  a  run  up  the  gangway  on 
to  the  wharf. 

"  Whoo ! "  said  a  soldier. 

And  the  sheep  sprung  high  in  the  au*  as  it 
passed  him  to  rush  down  the  gap  made  by  the 
crowd,  which  divided  to  give  a  clear  passage. 

There  was  a  laugh  as  the  sheep  jumped,  and  a 
louder  laugh  rose  as  the  second  sheep  noisily 
clattered  up  the  gangway  in  pursuit  of  the  first  and 
jumped  exactly  at  the  same  spot.  Sheep  after 
sheep  came  clattering  up  at  irregular  intervals,  each 


ii 


GEEENOCK. 


one  jumping  as  the  first  had  done,  though  there 
was  nothing  to  cause  it  to  do  so  but  an  irresistible 
impulse  to  behave  as  the  others  did. 

And  at  every  leap  we  roared  with  delight. 

Meanwhile  the  man  was  being  dragged  out  of 
the  water,  a  miserable,  half -drowned  object,  whom 
the  rough  sailors  laughed  at  hugely.  The  laughter 
was  contagious :  we  laughed  at  the  man  and  laughed 
at  the  flock,  which  came  up  out  of  the  ship,  jump, 
jump,  as  if  bewitched. 

Looking  across  the  wharf,  I  saw  a  dressy,  fop- 
pish creature  hurrying  towards  us.  Evidently  he 
could  not  see  the  sheep  jumping,  and  felt  angiy  at 
his  direct  road  to  one  of  the  boats  being  blocked  by 
the  laughing  mob. 

Elbowing  his  way  through  the  people,  he  found 
himself  in  the  lane  just  where  the  sheep  were  giv- 
ing their  curious  leap. 

A  sheep  came  up  at  a  run  and  jumped.  The 
dandy  jumped  to  avoid  it,  and  while  both  were  in 
the  air  they  bumped  against  one  another.  Down 
went  the  sheep  on  its  back,  with  its  legs  in  full  kick. 
Down  went  the  man  on  his  back,  with  his  hat 


4  ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 

bounding  along  the  gi'ound  in  one  direction  and  his 
bag  in  the  other. 

Loud  laughed  the  crowd,  and  louder  than  all 
laughed  the  three  soldiers.  And  when  the  next 
sheep  jumped  over  the  fallen  one  and  knocked  down 
the  man  again,  just  as  he  was  rising  to  his  hands 
and  knees,  the  merriment  reached  its  height. 

The  soldier  who  roared  the  heartiest  was  a  big, 
smart-looking  sergeant,  evidently  an  Irishman ;  and 
his  prolonged  ha!  ha!  ha!  ha!  proved  to  be  un- 
bearably offensive  to  the  fallen  individual,  who,  as 
soon  as  he  had  regained  his  hat  and  bag,  strode  up 
to  the  good-natured-looking  fellow  and  shook  his 
fist  in  his  face. 

An  angry  man  was  the  discomfited  one ;  his  face 
was  dark  with  rage  and  his  eyes  gleamed  danger- 
ously as  he  passed  out. 

*^  If  I  had  you  in  the —  " 

Where,  I  did  not  hear,  for  I  was  laughing  so,  and 
so  were  the  crowd,  for  a  minute,  more  or  less.  But 
then  a  strange  thing  happened.  They  suddenly 
began  to  change  sides  completely,  and  take  the 
man's  part,  resenting  his  enjojTnent  of  what  I  sup- 


Kin  f 


GREENOCK. 


posed  they  considered  to  be  their  own  particular 
entertainment.    Excessive  mirth  had  led  to  trouble. 

"At  him!  at  him!''  I  heard  shouted.  "We'll 
stand  with  you !  " 

"  Send  them  to  London !  " 

"  Send  tliom  to  Hanover ! " 

The  mob  grew  shriller  each  moment.  The 
soldiers  had  to  retreat  and  do  their  best  to  keep  off 
their  hustlers. 

It  seemed  to  me  to  be  shameful.  I  liked  the 
look  of  the  unarmed  soldiers,  and  the  attack  on 
them  was  most  unfair.  Who  could  help  laughing 
at  what  they  laughed  at?  Who  was  this  ill-tem- 
pered loon  who  had  caused  so  much  mischief  by  his 
clumsiness!  As  I  thought,  so  apparently  did  the 
sailors,  who  had  climbed  the  masts  to  see  what  was 
going  on,  and  were  cheering  the  soldiers. 

By  a  swerve  of  the  crowd  I  found  myself  in  the 
thick  of  it,  next  to  the  sergeant.  An  idea  occurred 
to  me. 

"Make  for  the  boat  the  sheep  came  from,"  I 
said  to  him. 
.    "  Ha !   Right !    That's  sense,"  said  the  Irishman. 


6 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


The  straight  line  of  retreat  became  a  curve ;  and, 
completing  a  half-circle,  the  soldiers  reached  the 
gangway  to  the  cattle  boat. 

As  we  did  so,  for  I  was  with  them,  I  saw  the 
crowd  in  confusion,  thrown  hither  and  thither ;  and 
a  patrol,  headed  by  a  young  officer,  dashed  through 
to  our  help.  Little  good  did  they  do,  or  rather  no 
good.  They  only  angered  the  crowd  the  more,  and 
they  were  all  forced  backwards  down  the  gangway, 
the  very  young  officer  covering  the  retreat. 

"  Unship  the  gangway ! "  I  heard  some  one  say ; 
and  longing  to  do  something  to  distinguish  myself, 
I  gave  it  a  push  just  as  the  officer  left  it,  and  over- 
board it  went,  and  with  it  three  men  who  were  fol- 
lowing us  on  board.  They  had  a  ducking — that  was 
all. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  vessel  was  a  boat,  into 
which  we  hurried  at  the  skipper's  orders,  and  off  we 
pulled  into  the  Clyde.  A  brigantine  was  in  the 
fairway  bound  up  stream,  and  her  we  hailed  and 
boarded. 

"To  what  do  I  owe  the  honor  of  this  visit  I** 
asked  the  master. 


GREENOCK. 


"H'm!''  said  the  soldier-officer,  hesitatingly, 
"  that  is  not  easy  to  say.  The  riotous  mob  you  see 
ashore  at  Greenock  made  it  advisable  for  us  to  re- 
treat to  the  river.  Any  cost  you  may  be  put  to  on 
our  account  shall  be  paid  by  me  personally,  if  not 
otherwise." 

"Ah!  that  is  candid,  Mr. P 

"  Tarling,"  said  the  officer—"  Ensign  Tarling,  at 
your  service." 

"Well,"  said  the  sailor,  "and  where  can  I  put 
you  ashore  1    I  am  bound  to  Port  Glasgow." 

"  That  will  suit  us  well." 

"  And  what  are  you,  my  lad ! "  asked  the  sailor. 
"  Are  you  one  of  this  regiment  ? " 

"  No,  sir,"  said  I ;  "  but  I  came  on  board  with 
them.  I  live  at  Greenock,  and  will  return  with 
them,  if  they  will  allow  me." 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  ensign.  "  If  you  had  not 
broken  the  bridge  so  opportunely  we  should  have 
been  in  a  pretty  pickle.    What  is  your  name  ? " 

"  Ardyne — Felix  Ardyne." 

And  that  was  my  first  meeting  with  Richard  Tar- 
ling, who  was  to  be  my  friend  from  that  day  to  this. 


8 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


That  night  we  returned  to  Greenock  and  found 
all  quiet.  The  tumult  had  subsided  as  quickly  as 
it  had  arisen,  and  nothing  was  said  about  it  offi- 
cially, it  being  deemed  wisest  to  treat  it  as  an  out- 
burst of  popular  humor,  arising  and  subsiding  in 
loud  laughter.  But  as  far  as  I  am  concerned  it 
is  one  of  the  best  remembered  illustrations  in  my 
book  of  life,  and  with  it  I  often  think  my  boyhood 
ended. 

My  father  had  been  much  concerned  at  my  ab- 
sence. Thinking  I  had  strayed  away,  he  had  offered 
a  reward  for  me.  Right  glad  was  he  when  I  walked 
into  his  room,  and  merrily  he  laughed  when  I  told 
him  how  it  had  all  happened. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  he  laughed  again. 
The  next  day  he  had  news  from  Glasgow,  and  for 
months  afterwards  we  were  adrift  in  a  troubled  sea. 


^ 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE  MYSTERY. 


M 


[ELL  do  I  remember  the  day  my  father  came 
home  from  bmying  my  uncle.    I  had  been 

left  alone  at  the  inn  in  a  long,  low,  dark 
room,  my  only  occupation  being  to  keep  up 
the  fire.  There  I  sat,  scorching  my  knees  in  front 
of  it,  on  a  high-backed  chair,  wondering  why 
people  died,  and  with  a  parched  throat  and  wet 
eyes,  thinking  of  another  funeral  not  long  since, 
when  in  the  showering  snow  my  mother's  coffin 
had  been  carried  to  its  place.  Why,  I  wondered, 
should  people  die,  to  make  little  boys  unhappy? 

I  can  see  that  dark  room  now ;  it  was  a  gloomy 
room,  and  mine  were  gloomy  thoughts,  occasionally 
broken  in  upon  by  other  thoughts  I  did  my  best  to 
strive  against  as  being  frivolous.  It  was  a  cold, 
Glasgow  day,  gray  and  cheerless,  soft  above  and 
greasy  underfoot — such  a  day  as  comes  to  be  made 
the  best  of;  but  it  is  mere  waste  of  time  to  talk 


I 


10 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


I  ■ 


» 


I, 

if'. 

r  1 


about  weather,  for  that  no  one  can  alter ;  and  is  it 
not  the  weather  that  has  made  us  what  we  are? 
Let  it  be  granted,  then,  that  it  was  a  very  miserable 
day,  and  that  all  the  surroundings  were  most  mis- 
erable. 

My  father,  Peter  Ardyne,  had  had  his  troubles, 
as  I  knew  then,  and  knew  better  afterwards,  and 
this  death  of  his  brother  had  much  affected  him. 
Everything  seemed  to  be  against  us;  could  some 
other  misfortune  have  happened?  He  had  been 
out  so  long  that  I  thought  he  was  never  coming 
back.  Could  I  be  going  to  lose  my  only  friend? 
For  he  was  my  only  friend  and  almost  my  only 
playmate. 

I  had  been  backward  and  forward  between  the 
chair  and  the  little  window  at  least  a  dozen  times 
before  he  passed  on  his  way  to  the  door.  He  had 
a  friend  with  him  whom  I  soon  knew  to  be  Adam- 
son  the  writer,  or  lawyer,  as  you  would  call  it. 

"  Well,  Felix,  did  you  think  I  was  not  return- 
ing?'' he  said. 

"  Well,  laddie,  you  have  the  true  look  of  your 
father,"  said  the  lawyer. 


T 


THE  MYSTERY. 


11 


"  You  had  best  go  out  of  tlio  room  for  awhile," 
said  my  father. 

And  I  did  for  a  few  minutes,  which  seemed  to 
me  a  long  time ;  and  then  I  went  back,  and  finding 
them  talking  I  came  out  again,  and  then  I  re- 
turned and  stayed  longer,  and  at  last  I  remained  in 
the  room  altogether,  and  they  took  no  notice  of  me ; 
and  this,  as  far  as  I  recollect,  was  how  the  conver- 
sation went : 

"  It  is  not  pleasant,"  said  Adamson,  "  to  be  lis- 
tening to  a  will  that  leaves  you  legatee  to  less  than 
it  makes  out." 

"Indeed,  no." 

"You  see,"  said  Adamson,  "you  are  left  with 
£7000,  and  the  £5000  trust  money  of  Mrs.  McRae ; 
but  where  that  tinist  money  is  invested  there  is 
nothing  to  show." 

"Have  you  made  much  inquiry?"  asked  my 
father. 

"  I  have.  Every  inquiry  I  can  think  of,  and  I 
have  gone  through  every  scrap  of  paper  and  account- 
book  your  brother  left,  and  nowhere  can  I  find  it. 
In  fact,  my  dear  Ardyne,  I  do  not  think — you  must 


12 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


excuse  my  plainness  of  speech — I  do  not  think  the 
money  exists." 

"  You  think  that  Andrew  spent  it  ? " 

"Ahem!  Not  exactly.  I  think  it  exists  in 
£5000  of  what  your  brother  left  you." 

That  was  one  spell  of  talk  I  heard,  or  rather  as 
much  of  it  as  I  remember,  and  the  sense  of  it  all. 
When  I  came  back  into  the  room  again,  not  inten- 
tionally to  listen  but  merely  on  account  of  being 
alone,  I  found  that  the  subject  had  either  been 
continued  or  returned  to. 

As  Adamson  warmed  his  hands  at  the  fire  he 
looked  up  at  the  ceiling  and  said,  "  It  is  a  strange 
coincidence,  Ardyne,  that  soon  after  he  accepted  of 
this  trust  your  brother  became  rich.  And  there  is 
no  trace  of  what  he  did  with  McRae's  money,  or 
how  he  became  possessed  of  his  own." 

"  He  paid  interest  regularly  ? " 

"  Always.  There  is  an  unbroken  series  of  en- 
tries and  acknowledgments.  And  Mrs.  McRae  I 
know  has  his  acknowledgment  that  he  took  over 
the  trust,  for  I  have  at  times  been  consulted  by  her. 
In  short,  she  is  a  client  of  mine." 


THE  MYSTERY. 


13 


!r 


"Then  there  is  no  doubt  that  my  brother  had 
the  money,  and  that  I,  as  his  rei)resentative,  am 
responsible  for  it." 

"  None  whatever.    That  is  clear  enough. " 

"  Then  my  course  as  an  honest  man  is  also  clear 
enough.  I  had  no  hope  of  inheritance  from  An- 
drew. All  I  can  say  is  that  it  is  welcome — ^but  it 
is  not  so  gi'eat  as  it  seems.  There  is  £7000;  of 
that  £5000  must  be  looked  upon  as  Mrs.  McRae's 
until  we  find  the  equivalent  amount  that  has  gone 
missing.  That  leaves  me  £2000  to  take.  Am  I 
right ! " 

"Very  nearly,"  said  the  lawyer.  "From  the 
£2000  you  must  deduct  the  charges.  It  will  have  a 
hole  made  in  it  by  them,  but  we  can  keep  the  hole 
within  reason." 

"Now,  Adamson,  you  are  a  man  I  know  as 
thoroughly  as  you  know  me.  See  to  this  matter. 
Find  another  use  for  the  McRae  money.  Hand  her 
over  the  £5000  and  release  me.  Keep  your  eye 
open  as  time  goes  on,  and  if  ever  you  have  a  hint 
that  Andrew  was  not  as  you  thought  him,  do  your 
best  for  me.    Will  that  do  ? " 


14 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


"  It  is  not  every  man  who  would  take  a  disap- 
pointment so  coolly." 

"  It  is  not  a  disappointment,  I  tell  you.  It  is  a 
surprise  having  the  £2000,  or  whatever  it  may  be. 
So  set  to  work  and  clear  me  of  the  trust.  And 
now,  how  about  this  land  in  America  ?  Where  is 
it  I    What  is  it  worth  ?" 

"  It  is  in  Nova  Scotia,  at  a  place  called  Che- 
bucto ;  and  it  is  worth  five  pounds." 

"  And  how  much  land  can  you  get  at  Chebucto 
for  five  pounds  ?  " 

"  As  much  as  you  like ;  no  more  and  no  less." 

"  And  how  do  you  arrive  at  its  value  ? " 

"  By  thinking  of  a  number :  just  that !  " 

"  I  do  not  understand  you." 

"  Easy  enough  to  understand.  The  land  is  forest 
land,  uncleared,  probably  costing  more  to  clear  than 
to  buy — and  yet  certainly  worth  something.  I  say 
for  the  purposes  of  this  account  of  your  brother's 
estate  that  it  is  worth  just  five  pounds  sterling. 
Contradict  me  who  can ! " 

"Well,  Adamson,  I  think  I  will  go  to  Che- 
bucto." 


THE  MYSTERY. 


15 


I 
I 


Tlio  lawyer  gave  a  long,  scarcely  audible  whistle, 
aud  raised  his  eyebrows. 

"  Yes,  to  Chebucto !  "  said  Peter  Ardyne. 

"There  seems  tc  bo  some  charm  in  the  name. 
Why?" 

"Well,  Adamson,  you  are  an  old  friend  and  a 
wise  one;  and  I'll  tell  you.  You  know  I  don't 
like  the  way  things  are  going  on  in  this  coun- 
try. I  should  like  to  see  the  king  have  his 
own  again;  but  ho  never  will.  There  is  news 
from  Franco  that  a  certain  exalted  personage  is 
about  to  visit  the  north  of  Scotland.  Am  I 
right  ? " 

"  So  they  report." 

"  Well,  Adamson,  he  will  do  no  good.  There  will 
be  many  to  follow,  but  it  will  be  in  vain.  I  wish 
him  well — and  I  wiU  go  away  from  here." 

"  It  is  my  turn  not  to  understand. " 

"  It  is  a  losing  cause,  you  see.  I  cannot  fight 
for  a  losing  side." 

"Then  why  not  fight  for  the  other?"  asked 
Adamson. 

"  Impossible.    I  fight  for  no  side  merely  because 


?^^ 


.  I'!!: 


1"!| 


II 


i 


i 

1 

f 

1 

1, 

ir 
ii 

il 

I 

1 

16 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


I  expect  it  to  win.  I  am  not  one  of  the  mob.  Wliat 
do  you  take  me  for  ? " 

"  And  you  fight  for  no  cause  that  you  think  will 
lose  ? "  asked  the  lawyer. 

"  That  is  it.  It  is  hopeless.  Why  have  needless 
bloodshed?  "What  good  will  it  do!  None!  My 
friends  will  be  beaten,  I  am  sure;  I  cannot  fight 
against  them  to  profit  by  their  misfortunes,  and  so 
I  go  to — what  did  you  say  that  place  was  I  ^ 

"  Chebucto." 

"  That's  it.  I  go  to  New  Scotland,  to  Chebucto. 
It  will  be  safer  for  me  and  safer  for  the  laddie." 

"  And  are  you  going  to  leave  me  with  no  one  to 
look  after  me  in  charge  of  your  affairs  I " 

"  All  my  affairs — few  as  they  are.  Release  me 
as  soon  as  you  can.  I  will  realize  what  I  have,  and 
with  the  money  you  hand  over  Felix  and  I  will 
make  a  fresh  start  in  a  new  world.  I  have  never 
cared  for  this  one  since  my  wife  died." 

"  I  wish  you  prosperity,"  said  the  lawyer. 

"  But  all  the  same,  Adamson,  I  do  not  believe 
Andrew  spent  the  widow's  money." 

"  Nor  did  I,  till  I  could  not  find  it,  and  I  think 


J 


:l 


■ '5R 


THE  MYSTERY. 


17 


« 


ill 

er 


ve 


it  now  against  my  better  feelings.  But  what  are  we 
to  do!" 

"  Well,  Adamson,  I  know  not.  I  leave  it  in  your 
hands.    The  widow  must  not  suffer.** 

"  No,  nor  must  Peter  Ardyne,  if  I  can  help  it. 
Of  that  be  sure." 

And  tho  lawyer  rose  to  go. 

At  the  door  he  stopped  to  notice  me. 

"Well,  sandy- wig,  you  look  hungry,  and  your 
blue  eyes  look  tired.    How  old  are  you  I " 

"  Twelve,"  I  said. 

"  And  one  day  you  will  be  laird  of  Chebucto." 

"  Where  is  Chebucto ! "  I  asked. 

"  Ah,  tellings !  "  said  he.  "  Do  you  mean  to  say 
you  learn  geography  and  cannot  tell  us  that !  Have 
you  no  knowledge  of  the  Latin  tongue !  Did  you 
never  hear  of  a  Mantuan  who  said :  Etj  penitus  toto 
divisos  orhe,  Chehuctosf^ 

^^  I  have  heard  something  like  that,"  I  said,  "  but 
I  thought  it  was  BritannosP 

"  They  are  all  akin,"  said  Adamson ;  "  if  not,  they 
will  be !    Good-e'en  to  you,  Chebucto !  ** 


4  1 


I 


m 


I  I 


II..    ! 


::i.    'l!!    I 


.     Mill     ! 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  FORT. 


T  was  in  the  summer  of  1744  that  we  landed 
at  Boston,  in  Massachusetts,  on  our  way  to 
Nova  Scotia,  to  claim  possession  of  the  mys- 
terious patch  of  land  left  to  my  father  in 
Uncle  Andi'ew's  will.  Our  voyage  to  Boston  was 
long,  stormy,  and  disagreeable,  but  oui*  experiences 
were  nothing  out  of  the  ordinary,  and  so  similar 
to  those  of  other  voyagers  that  I  need  not  stop  to 
detail  them. 

Our  ship  was  the  Loo,  a  small  brigantine  of 
Boston,  which  on  this  occasion  made  her  first  and 
only  return  journey  across  the  Atlantic.  My  father's 
reasons  for  going  in  so  small  a  vessel  were  that  the 
charge  was  moderate,  and  the  master,  Bezek  Angel, 
a  fine,  broad-shouldered  fellow,  took  my  father's 
fancy  as  he  had  done  mine,  he  being  the  skipper  to 
whom  I  had  fled  on  the  day  of  the  sheep  landing; 
also — and  this  was  the  deciding  reason — the  Loo 


,1 


THE  FORT. 


19 


of 

ind 

:lie 


?t's 


to 


I 


was  going  on  to  Annapolis  Royal  after  touching  at 
Boston. 

Annapolis  Royal  was  then  the  chief  British  set- 
tlement in  Nova  Scotia.  Chebucto,  we  had  ascei- 
tained,  was  the  name  of  a  bay  due  east  of  Annapolis, 
on  the  Atlantic  coast. 

At  Annapolis  our  adventures,  and  I  may  truly 
say  our  perils,  began.  My  father  had  brought  with 
him  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Governor ;  and 
immediately  on  landing  we  set  off  to  the  fort  which 
was  Colonel  Mascarene's  headquarters. 

The  settlement  was  much  smaller  than  I  had  ex- 
pected. We  entered  a  gap  in  some  very  high  cliffs 
and  sailed  up  a  narrow  channel  between  walls  of 
rock  a  hundred  feet  high,  capped  by  stunted  fir 
woods.  The  settlement  was  a  long  distance  up  the 
estuary  of  the  river,  on  a  sort  of  peninsula ;  and  it 
consisted  of  a  wharf  and  a  few  huts.  At  one  end  of 
the  huts  was  a  block-house ;  at  the  other  was  a  fort, 
with  a  flag  flying  in  its  centre. 

My  father  thought  little  of  the  fort  and  less  of 
the  huts 

A  few  men  were  working  at  the  fort,  apparently 


I 


Hi 


r  ! 


!  11 


■!'ll     il 


11 


I  I 


20 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


repairing  it ;  and  it  looked  as  though  it  could  stand 
a  good  deal  of  repair. 

It  was  a  square  on  a  low  hill,  which  we  after- 
wards found  to  be  artificial,  and  the  ramparts  were 
of  sandy  earth  faced  with  timber.  There  was  a 
bastion  or  battery  at  each  corner ;  and  it  had  a  gate, 
a  drawbridge,  two  barriers,  and  a  dry  ditch  with 
palisades  along  the  middle.  It  lay  westward  of  the 
huts  and  the  pine  woods  came  down  close  to  it, 
although  there  was  a  wide  glacis.  And  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  river  was  a  thick  forest. 

On  reaching  the  gate  we  were  challenged  by  a 
sentry,  who  handed  us  over  to  the  sergeant  of  the 
guard,  whom  I  at  once  recognized  as  the  man  I  had 
seen  at  Greenock. 

"  Father,"  said  I,  "  that  is  the  man  who  laughed 
about  the  sheep,'' 

"The  sheep  is  it!"  said  the  sergeant.  "Ah!  I 
thought  I  knew  your  face.  Of  course  it  is.  Glad 
to  meet  you,  sir,  in  these  wilds.    This  way." 

We  were  in  the  Governor's  presence  the  next 
moment.  He  was  a  Huguenot  Frenchman  by  birth, 
and  was  most  polite,  or  rather  he  would  have  been 


t 


■iAi- 


B 


m 


II      I 


i  t 


II  i 


"Please,  i/onr  honor,  there  t-s  (in  Jiidian  at  the  gate."' 


THE  FORT. 


21 


had  he  not  been  so  quickly  interrupted.  In  fact, 
the  colonel  had  not  finished  reading  the  letter 
handed  him  by  my  father  before  there  was  a  sharp 
knock  at  the  door. 

"  Come  in." 

The  sergeant  entered. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Sergeant  ? " 

"  Please,  your  honor,  there  is  an  Indian  at  the 
gate  with  great  news." 

"  Let  him  wait." 

"Please,  sir,  the  news  is  urgent.  The  French 
are  on  the  march  to  attack  us.    The  savages —  " 

"  What?"  said  Colonel  Mascarene,  folding  up  the 
letter.  "Excuse  me,  Mr.  Ardyne.  You  are  wel- 
come. Anything  I  can  do  for  you  I  will.  Pray  be 
my  guest  as  long  as  may  suit  your  convenience. 
O'Brien ! " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Send  a  man  or  two  down  to  the  wharf  to  get 
Mr.  Ardyne's  baggage  up." 

"  I  had  no  intention —  "  began  my  father. 

"  Oh,  it  is  all  right,"  said  the  colonel.  "  All 
right.    You  would  do  the  same  if  you  were  in  my 


I  !l 


22 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


ii  :1 
<    i 


i  I 


position.  Pray,  no  thanks ;  give  me  no  credit  I  do 
not  deserve ;  it  may  be  a  case  of  must.  If  this 
news  be  true  you  will  have  to  be  my  guests  whether 
you  like  it  or  not.  The  whole  colony  must  come 
within  these  rampai'ts ;  there  is  no  other  protection 
against  an  invasion.  Our  force  is  not  strong  enough 
to  do  otherwise.  The  country  is  indefensible.  If 
you  would  not  object  to  going  with  the  men  to  the 
wharf  and  bringing  up  at  once  any  weapons  and 
ammunition  you  may  have,  it  would  be  well.  Ex- 
cuse me." 

The  Governor  was  off  to  interview  the  Indian. 
My  father  and  I,  attended  by  four  men,  went  down 
to  the  ship. 

We  had  not  been  long  aboard  when  a  gun  was 
fired  from  the  fort.  A  drum  was  heard  beating  an 
alarm.  A  second  flag  was  run  up  on  the  north- 
eastern bastion.  A  flag  appeared  on  the  block-house 
at  the  other  end  of  the  village.  A  few  men  came 
running  in  out  of  the  woods. 

I  stood  on  the  taffrail  and  gazed  in  wonder. 
Men  on  foot  and  a  few  on  horseback  were  madly 
busy  in  all  directions.    The  cattle  and  sheep  were 


THE  FORT. 


23 


excitedly  rounded  up  and  driven  on  to  and  along 
the  rough  road,  which  soon  became  alive  with  so 
strange  a  line  of  families  removing  with  bag  and 
baggage,  by  hand,  horse,  cart,  wheelbarrow,  and 
everything  that  could  hold  anything,  that  I  thought 
I  must  be  dreaming.  The  whole  settlement  seemed 
to  be  on  the  run,  the  walk,  or  the  stagger  into  the 
fort. 

"  Quick's  the  word,  sir,"  said  the  corporal  to  my 
father,  "and  hurry's  the  countersign.  Look  alive 
there !     Stop  that  cart. " 

The  cart  was  passing  the  end  of  the  wharf  half 
empty.  One  of  the  soldiers  ran  to  the  driver  and 
brought  the  cart  near  the  ship.  Into  it  was  thrown 
about  half  of  our  belongings. 

"  Any  ammunition  !  ^  asked  the  corporal. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  skipper ;  "  some." 

"  Better  hand  over  what  you  don't  want  for  your 
own  use,"  said  the  corporal.  "  Make  out  an  account, 
that  we  may  see  what  we  take — Oh !  here  is  Mr. 
Tarling." 

"  Yes,  here  is  Mr.  Tarhng.  Ensign  Tarling,  at 
your  service  " — with  a  bow  to  my  father — "  and  at 


yr 


'I 


i 


h  :\ 


»!   ( 


24 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


yours,  sir,"  with  a  nod  and  a  shake  of  the  hand  to 
me.  "  I  heard  you  were  here,  much  to  my  astonish- 
ment. The  Governor's  compliments  to  you,  Mr. 
Ardyne ;  affairs  have  become  so  urgent  as  to  admit 
of  no  delay.  The  men  are  to  get  back  to  the  fort 
at  once  with  what  they  have.  This  vessel  is  bound 
to  Boston  instantly,  unless  the  master  is  blind  to 
his  own  interests.  Whatever  there  may  be  of  yours 
on  board  she  will  bring  back  with  her  when  she  re- 
turns with  reinforcements.  Wliat  have  you  to  say 
to  that,  Mr.  Angel ! "  and  he  handed  him  a  paper, 
which  the  skipper  unfolded  and  began  to  read. 
"  That  will  suit  you,  if  I  am  not  mistaken  ? " 

The  skipper  ran  his  eye,  and  his  finger,  along 
the  lines. 

,  "  Ah-h-h !  "  he  said.  "  Well,  I'll  sign.  Angel's 
visits  are  never  long  in  Nova  Scotia.    Come  below. 


sir." 


And  he  disappeared  in  company  with  the  young 
officer.    In  a  minute  or  so  he  was  on  deck  again. 

"  Now  then,  Mr.  Ardyne,  if  you  please.  Good- 
by,  Felix.  Your  goods,  sir,  will  be  safe  with  me.  I 
hope  you  will  be  in  the  land  of  the  living  with  a 


•  If-- 

I 

4 


THE  FORT. 


25 


scalp  on  wlien  I  return.  The  same  to  you,  Mr.  Tar- 
ling." 

"  Well,"  said  the  ensign,  "  if  I  am  not,  I  shaU 
have  joined  your  family." 

"  How  so  ? " 

"  An  angel,  of  course." 

"  That's  possible,"  said  the  skipper,  dubiously. 

There  was  a  puff  of  white  smoke  and  a  report 
from  the  fort. 

"  ThexC  goes  the  second  gun,"  said  Tarling.  "  We 
must  hasten  back." 

"  What  is  it  all  about  1 "  asked  I. 

"  The  French  are  coming,  that  is  all.  They  have 
broken  into  our  territory  from  Louisbourg.  Mon- 
sieur Duvivier  has  taken  Canso  and  Chebucto  and 
is  on  the  march  here,  and  his  vanguard  of  Souri- 
quois  are  close  at  hand." 

"  But  there  has  been  no  declaration  of  war,  has 
there?" 

"  Oh,  there's  nothing  in  that.  That  is  mere  de- 
tail. The  point  is  that  the  French  are  here,  and 
will  turn  us  out  if  they  can, 


» 


li 


Did  the  one  Indian  tell  you  all  this  I " 


26 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


f  1 


!!  Ul      t  ■ 


I 


'■ft 


I'i     '1 


"  Well,  no.  "Wo  heard  a  rumor  three  days  ago 
that  the  French  were  coming,  and  the  Governor  be- 
gan to  get  things  ready,  as  you  see,"  and  he  nodded 
at  the  men  at  work  near  the  gate.  "But  the 
Indian  saw  them  on  the  march  and  brought  defi- 
nite news.  Canso  capitulated  on  the  13th  of  May. 
It  is  not  much  loss,  except  in  reputation.  It  is 
only  a  miserable  block-house  built  by  the  fisher- 
men." 

"  Like  that  one  ? " 

"  Not  so  good  as  that  one.  That  is  better  than 
it  looks,  and  will  give  a  good  account  of  itself." 

We  were  within  fifty  yards  of  the  fort  when  we 
heard  the  distant  sound  of  a  gun. 

"  Just  in  time,"  said  Tarling,  turning  round  to 
see  the  wreath  of  smoke  floating  away  from  the 
block-house. 

"Angel's  off!"  he  continued.  "Thank  good- 
ness !    Look." 

The  LoOy  with  about  a  third  of  her  sail  fully  set, 
and  the  rest  being  sheeted  home,  was  just  heeling  to 
the  breeze,  and  heading  down  the  river  between  the 
frowning  cliffs. 


THE  FORT. 


27 


le 


I 


"  And  there,"  further  continued  the  ensign,  "  is 
the  enemy." 

A  few  figures  could  bo  seen  moving  from  tree  to 
tree  on  the  fringe  of  the  forest. 

"  The  sooner  wo  are  in  shelter  the  better,"  said 
my  father. 

"  Quite  so,"  said  Tarling. 

And  we  entered  the  gate.  "Within,  the  confusion 
was  gently  subsiding.  There  was  a  place  for  every- 
body and  everything,  for  all  had  been  prepared,  and 
the  people  knew  what  they  were  about.  In  the 
barrack  and  storehouse  and  casemates  and  on  the 
central  gi*een  the  goods  were  stored,  and  the  cattle 
and  their  owners  found  quarters.  As  soon  as  the 
fugitives  had  been  accommodated  the  men  reported 
themselves  at  the  guard-room  as  ready  for  garrison 
duty,  and  were  sent  to  join  the  soldiers  on  the  ram- 
parts. 

Of  soldiers  under  his  command,  all  told.  Colonel 
Mascarene  had  eighty ;  the  inhabitants  he  was  shel- 
tering numbered  among  them  about  a  hundred  men 
and  boys  who  could  be  trusted  with  fire-arms ;  and 
as  was  the  custom  then,  each  had  his  own  weapons. 


!!': 


!  I 


28 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


and  looked  to  tlie  government  only  for  powder  and 
lead.  They  were  a  roughish  lot  of  farmers  and 
frontiersmen,  most  of  them  Yankee  born,  many  of 
them  Scotch,  a  few  English,  a  few  Acadians,  half  a 
dozen  half-breeds,  and  three  Indians ;  but  every  one 
of  them  could  be  trusted,  knowing  that  he  would 
receive  no  mercy  from  the  French  or  their  Indian 
allies.    ' 

We  were  lodged  close  to  the  Governor,  and  as 
soon  as  we  arrived  were  invited  to  his  table. 

I  found  myself  seated  by  the  side  of  young  Tar- 
ling,  who  from  the  first  seemed  anxious  to  make 
friends  with  me. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  Annapolis  Royal  ?  '^  he 
asked. 

"  Is  it  often  like  this  ? "  I  answered,  in  the  Scot- 
tish manner. 

**This  is  my  first  experience  of  this  kind  of 
thing.    I  have  not  been  here  a  month.'' 

"Yes,  of  course.  It  is  different  to  what  I  ex- 
pected." 

"  You  did  not  expect  to  come  among  savages  ? " 

"Indeed,  no.    It  is  all  so  strange.    Now,"  and 


THE  FORT. 


29 


Ix- 


h> 


I  sank  my  voice  almost  to  a  wliisper,  "  why  don't 
you  boil  your  lobsters  in  this  country  ?  ^ 

"  Boil  our  lobsters !    "Wha'  do  you  mean ! " 

"Why,  those  things  a^"i  not  cooked — ^look!'' 
And  I  nodded  at  the  dish  near  me. 

"  Oh ! "  said  Tarling,  with  a  quiet  laugh.  "  They 
are  all  right.  Lobsters  do  not  tui'n  red  in  this 
country  when  they  are  boiled ;  they  turn  green." 

I  looked  incredulous. 

"Really  it  is  so,'' said  Tarling.  "Have  some! 
May  I  trouble  you  for  the  lobster,  please  ?  Thank 
you." 

I  tasted  and  was  convinced. 

"The  gi'een  uniform  suits  the  country  better, 
you  see,"  said  a  stranger  seated  opposite  us. 

"  You  are  glad  of  the  red  when  you  can  get  it, 
though,"  said  Tarling. 

"In  times  like  these,  most  certainly,"  said  the 
stranger.    "  But  tastes  may  change,  anyhow." 

"Ah!"  said  Tarling,  "there's  no  pleasing  you 
provincials,  though  to  put  a  red  coat  on  a  man  in 
the  backwoods  is  to  make  a  target  of  him,  I  admit." 

Here  an  orderly  brought  in  a  slip  of  paper  to  the 


111 
1^1 


^A 


i»       111 


t> 


ii       II 


'tliiii 
i 


i     :i 


30 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


Governor,  who  read  it  and  immediately  went  ont. 
The  others  followed. 

"Come  with  me,"  said  Tarling.  And  in  a  few 
minutes  we  were  in  the  southeast  battery  looking 
out  over  the  deserted  village. 

The  Souriquois  had  gathered  in  the  woods  on 
the  east  and  west  and  south  of  the  fort.  On  the 
north  side  ran  the  river;  on  it  and  on  the  high 
wooded  gi'ound  on  the  opposite  bank  there  was  no 
sign  of  an  enemy.  The  Indians  had  come  down 
from  the  woods  on  the  centre  of  the  village  and 
were  in  possession  of  some  of  the  huts.  But  not  a 
shot  had  been  fired  as  yet.  Up  the  rough  road, 
along  which  the  crowd  had  hurried  into  the  fort, 
came  three  men  bearing  a  white  flag  and  a  green 
bough.  One  of  the  men  was  an  Indian  in  full  war 
paint ;  another  was  a  Canadian,  in  skin  jacket  and 
moccasins ;  the  other  was  a  priest. 

The  priest  halted  and  waited,  while  the  two  men 
came  on,  and  by  their  gestures  announced  they 
were  under  a  flag  of  truce.  The  stranger  who  had 
spoken  to  Tarling  at  the  table  went  out  of  the  fort 
to  meet  them.    He  brought  back  a  letter  from  the 


■H 


M 


n: 


..vir. 


THE  FOKT, 


31 


len 

ey 

lad 
)rt 
Ihe 


priest  asking  for  an  interview.  A  few  minutes 
afterwards  the  Governor  appeared  in  the  road,  at- 
tended by  two  of  his  men,  and  the  priest  came  for- 
ward to  join  him.  The  interview  was  not  a  long 
one.  It  ended  in  a  loftily  polite  leave-taking,  in 
the  departure  of  the  priest  and  his  companions 
down  the  road,  the  return  of  the  Governor,  and  the 
raising  of  the  drawbridge.  A  few  minutes  after- 
wards Mascarene  appeared  on  the  ramparts. 

"  A  summons  to  surrender,"  ho  said  to  my  father. 

"  So  I  thought.    Who  is  the  priest  ? " 

"  The  biggest  rascal  under  the  French  flag — and 
that  is  saying  much.  He  is  the  missionary  Le 
Loutre.  We  shall  hear  some  of  his  preaching  to- 
night." 

"Which  was  the  leader  of  the  enemy's  forces? 
The  Indian  ? " 

"No,  no!  Le  Loutre.  He  is  missionary  and 
fury  and  firebrand  and  general  and  scalper  and  am- 
bassador all  in  one !  Ask  any  one  in  the  fort  for 
his  character ;  the  one  I  have  given  him  is  the  best 
you  will  hear.    See !    Vespers  have  begun ! " 

A  sheaf  of  flame  and  smoke  rose  from  one  of  the 


i.!     ! 


iu 


\    :i 


i  f' 


32 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


huts ;  then  from  another ;  then  from  another.  The 
village  was  on  fire. 

"Will  the  whole  place  be  destroyed  I"  asked 
Peter  Ardyne. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mascarene.  "  To  fire  on  the  scoun- 
di-els  would  be  mere  waste,  and  I  cannot  afford  to 
waste  ammunition.    We  shall  want  it  all  to-night." 

Not  a  shot  was  fired  that  afternoon.  The  Somi- 
quois  drew  closer  to  the  fort  and  coolly  burned  the 
houses  one  by  one. 

There  were  three  hundred  Indians  under  Le 
Loutre,  and  Duvivier  was  coming  with  sixty  sol- 
diers, four  hundred  militia,  and  as  many  Indians. 
And  two  frigates  from  Louisbourg,  with  soldiers  on 
board,  were  due  in  the  river.  Such  was  Le  Loutre's 
tale,  as  repeated  to  us  by  the  Governor.  Le  Loutre 
also  informed  the  Governor  that  France  had  de- 
clared war  as  far  back  as  the  15th  of  March,  and 
that  he  ought  to  have  known  it,  if  he  did  not ;  and 
that  no  Frenchman  would  now  rest  until  the  British 
were  driven  out  of  America.  As  far  as  Nova  Scotia 
was  concerned,  Annapolis  was  all  that  was  now  left 
to  us. 


'f 


THE  FORT. 


33 


The  Governor  wasted  neither  his  ammunition 
nor  his  time.  Out  of  sight  of  the  keenly  watching 
Souriquois,  every  man  that  could  be  spared  was  at 
work  strengthening  the  defences  and  preparing  for 
the  storm. 

Night  fell :  a  dark  night  made  darker  by  the 
glare  of  the  last  of  the  burning  houses.  All  was 
quiet  and  still  outside.  The  preparations  for  the 
inevitable  were  complete,  and  the  men  were  under 
arms  at  their  posts.    I  went  to  sleep. 

I  was  awakened  by  a  loud  noise.  I  had  been 
sleeping  in  my  clothes.  I  leaned  up  and  listened. 
I  heard  the  crackle  of  musketry,  and  amidst  it  I  dis- 
tinguished the  report  of  one  of  the  fort  cannons.  I 
ran  out  and  saw  the  faint  flush  of  dawn  overhead, 
while  the  flashes  around  me  lighted  up  the  dark, 
misty  morning.  The  weather  was  cold  and  raw.  I 
found  my  way  to  the  southeast  battery  and  watched 
the  battle. 

At  the  northeast  and  southwest  angles  of  the 

fort  the  Governor  had  built  a  pile  of  tar  barrels  and 

brushwood,  and  these  he  had  hghted  by  trains  of 

powder  as  soon  as  the  alarm  was  given. 
3 


34 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


Many  of  tlie  Indians  had  nearly  crossed  the 
glacis  before  they  were  discovered,  but  the  watch 
had  detected  them  and  at  once  fired  the  train,  and 
the  bonfires  burned  merrily  and  the  enemy's  force 
was  revealed.  The  cannon,  loaded  with  bags  of 
bullets,  spread  out  a  terrible  rain. 

In  vain  the  Indians,  looking  like  demons  in  their 
paint  and  feathers,  in  the  glare  and  shadow  of  the 
leaping  fiames,  tried  to  hold  their  own  on  the  glacis. 
They  were  soon  driven  into  cover,  from  which  their 
arrows  and  bullets  had  no  effect.  The  assault  was 
a  failure.  The  battle  lasted  in  strength  but  an  hour, 
and  lazily  dwindled  away  as  the  morning  drew  on. 
In  the  fort  only  one  man  was  hurt — a  mere  flesh 
wound.  Of  the  Indians  we  knew  not  how  many,  as 
it  is  their  custom  to  fall  down  at  each  discharge, 
and  then  rise  to  return  it.  This  is  a  famous  device 
in  fighting  in  the  woods,  but  in  attacking  a  fort, 
Mr.  Tarliug  said,  he  could  not  see  how  it  could  pay ; 
nor  could  I. 

Night  after  night  the  Souriquois  attacked  An- 
napolis Royal,  and  each  time  they  were  brushed  off 
with  ease.    During  the  day  they  lay  in  ambush  in 


THE  FORT. 


35 


the  woods,  and  in  the  deserted  houses  and  barns, 
and  endeavored  to  pick  off  any  of  Mascarene's  men 
who  showed  their  heads  above  the  ramparts.  And 
as  they  attacked  the  fort  so  did  they  the  block-house, 
which  was  held  by  the  sergeant  and  a  small  guard. 
It  was  more  of  a  blockade  than  a  siege,  for  Le 
Loutre  was  waiting  for  Duvivier  before  he  began 
serious  work,  and  Mascarene  was  waiting  for  the 
return  of  the  Loo, 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE    BLOCK-HOUSE. 


JHE  boats  had  all  been  captured  by  the  Souri- 
quois  except  one  which  was  under  the  pro- 

ty^  tection  of  the  fort.  Both  fort  and  block- 
house were  on  the  water-side,  and  commu- 
nication between  them  was  kept  up  by  means  of 
this  boat,  which  journeyed  backward  and  forward 
each  night  as  soon  as  darkness  had  set  in. 

During  one  night's  attack  an  arrow  was  shot 
into  the  fort,  on  which  was  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
Governor  from  some  traitor  among  the  Indians.  It 
informed  him  that  the  next  night  the  attack  on  the 
fort  was  to  be  a  feint,  and  that  "  the  priest  of  the 
new  religion,"  who  openly  acted  as  leader,  intended 
to  do  his  best  to  capture  the  block-house. 

All  next  day  the  colonel  carefully  noted  the 
Indian  proceedings,  and,  being  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  the  message,  decided  to  reinforce  the  block- 


■■:«V 


THE  BLOCK-HOUSE. 


37 


Dt 

It 

le 

le 

3d 

be 

"i 

•  '■-' 

he 

fi 

m 

k- 

1 

i 

house  garrison  at  least  for  the  night.  At  six  o'clock 
Ensign  Tarling,  who  was  anxious  to  distinguish 
himself  in  a  separate  command,  and  had  volunteered 
through  his  captain  for  special  service,  was  told  to 
hold  himself  in  readiness.  Ten  men  were  placed 
under  his  orders ;  and,  as  adviser  and  real  head  of 
the  detachment,  he  was  given  the  stranger  who  had 
moralized  on  the  color  of  lobsters,  and  whom  I  now 
knew  to  be  Simon  Harcourt,  an  Acadian  or  Anglo- 
French  colonist. 

I  asked  to  be  one  of  the  party. 

"You!"  said  Tarling.  "You  had  better  stay 
where  you  are.  It  will  probably  end  in  nothing, 
and  you  will  be  cooped  up  with  us  and  see  nothing. 
It  is  none  of  your  business,  my  boy ! " 

Now  I  did  not  think  so,  and  the  next  time 
the  colonel  noticed  me  I  boldly  asked  him  to  let 
me  go. 

"  Go !   You  volunteer  for  active  service,  do  you  ? " 
"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Ah !  well,  you  are  not  old  enough,  you  would 
be  in  the  way." 

"  I  could  be  of  use  in  passing  the  word,  sir." 


38 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


j' 


"  You  have  a  good  opiniou  of  yourself.  I  ^  ill 
ask  your  father." 

And  the  end  of  it  was  that  father  and  I  went  in 
the  boat. 

The  twilight  had  faded  into  misty  gloom  when 
we  started.  With  muffled  oars  we  slipped  off  si- 
lently athwart  the  river,  and  all  went  well  until  we 
were  crossing  back  again  to  the  light  in  the  block- 
house. There  was  no  sound  now  but  the  gentle 
sough  of  the  boat,  and  the  least  bit  of  a  rub  and 
shiver  as  the  oars  were  pulled  through  the  water. 

I  was  in  the  boat,  armed  with  a  large  pistol,  which 
I  was  soon  to  learn  kicked  painfully.  Peering  out 
into  the  darkness  I  caught  sight  of  a  strange  ripple 
ahead,  and  in  the  centre  of  it  was  a  round  object. 
Almost  immediately  I  saw  another ;  then  another. 

"  The  stream  is  full  of  foot-balls ! "  I  whispered. 

"Foot-balls!"  said  Harcourt,  who  was  by  my 
side.    "  What  is  that  ? " 

And  he  looked  out  ahead. 

"Ah!  ah!  Messieurs  les  Souriquois  are  swim- 
ming out  to  welcome  us." 

"  Cease  rowing ! "  said  Tarling. 


I' 


THE  BLOCK-HOUSE. 


39 


The  men  stopped.  At  the  same  moment  a  flare 
shot  up  from  the  fort.  It  oast  a  feeble  light  at  the 
distance,  but  enough  to  show  the  block-house  black 
and  threatening ;  and  between  the  block-house  and 
the  boat  were  some  thirty  Indians  in  the  water. 
The  nearest  was  not  a  dozen  yards  away. 

"Row  on!"  said  the  ensign,  putting  the  helm 
a-starboard. 

The  boat  headed  oif  to  the  left  up  stream,  and 
continuing  the  curve  swept  round  to  the  opposite 
bank,  coasted  it  for  a  minute  or  so,  and  then  crossed 
the  river  in  a  wide  semicircle  and  approached  the 
block-house  on  the  side  of  the  village.  The  result 
of  this  manoeuvre  was  to  bring  her  up  in  the  rear 
of  the  swimming  brigade,  who  had  lost  sight  of  her 
in  the  darkness. 

Twenty  yards  from  the  shore  there  came  a  "  sip  " 
and  a  "  thlung  "  close  to  my  ear,  and  an  arrow  stood 
quivering  in  the  wood  six  inches  below  me.  Almost 
simultaneously  there  was  a  flash  from  the  shore, 
and  a  buUet  or  two  went  "  whooing  "  overhead. 

"Fire  where  that  flash  was,  those  that  are  not 
rowing.    In  oars,  all ! " 


40 


englishman's  haven. 


Tliero  was  a  straggling  volley  from  half  a  dozen 
in  the  boat,  including  Tarling  and  Harcourt.  In  re- 
ply came  a  flare  from  the  block-house.  Along  the 
shore  could  be  seen  a  line  of  Indians ;  in  the  river 
was  the  dotted  brigade  of  swimmers  returning; 
between  the  two  was  the  boat.  There  was  a  big 
"bong'*  and  then  a  bigger  "bong"  from  the  block- 
house ;  and  right  and  left  of  the  boat,  over  a  wide 
space,  and  "  fitching  "  into  the  river  on  one  side  and 
"crickling"  up  the  shingle  on  the  other,  came  a 
spreading  shower  of  langrage. 

The  boat  grated  on  the  beach. 

"  Hurroo !  "  Sergeant  O'Brien  was  heard  shout- 
ing in  the  block-house.     "  Load  briskly  now ! " 

There  was  a  sputtering  volley,  and  then  a  dis- 
charge from  the  cannon,  and  ar  he  firing  the 
boat  was  run  up  into  shelt^  ^  the  relief  was 

safe. 

No  time  was  lost.  The  reinforcement  was  soon 
at  the  upper  loopholes  busily  firing  at  the  Indians 
returning  to  the  shore,  who  swam  revealed  in  the 
light  of  a  second  flare  that  the  thoughtful  Irishman 
had  lighted ;  while  on  the  wooden  walls  there  dwelt 


i 


THE  BLOCK-HOUSE. 


41 


a  steady  pattering  of  bullets  and  arrows  in  reply 
from  the  besiegers  on  land. 

The  block-house  had  three  floors.  It  was  square, 
and  built  of  roughly  squared  baulks.  The  lower 
story  was  twenty  feet  on  the  side,  the  second  was 
twenty-two  feet,  the  upper  was  twenty-four  feet. 
In  each  side  of  the  four  faces  of  the  second  floor 
was  a  porthole  for  the  two  cannons,  which  were  six- 
pounders  on  ship  carriages.  The  upper  floors  ex- 
tended over  the  lower  ones,  as  I  have  said,  and  in 
the  part  projecting  were  many  round  holes,  eight 
inches  in  diameter,  through  which  to  fire  musketry, 
or  whatever  might  be  convenient.  Besides  these 
there  were  loopholes  all  round  the  walls. 

The  flare  had  been  out  but  a  short  time  when 
there  was  an  alarm  on  the  eastern  face.  A  flight  of 
arrows  aflame  with  burning  rags  hurtled  harmlessly 
on  to  the  roof.  The  fire  at  which  these  had  been 
lighted  was  pointed  out  by  Harcourt  in  a  small 
clump  of  trees. 

"  Could  you  di-op  a  shot  there  ? "  he  asked  the 
ensign. 

"  We  can  try.    Sergeant,  aim  at  that  clump." 


42 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


O'Brien  laid  the  gun,  looked  along  it,  shut  one 
eye,  then  shut  the  other,  then  shut  both  eyes,  then 
opened  both  eyes  and  squinted  horribly,  and  then 
said  to  me ; 

"Here,  manikin^  have  a  bang!  You  can  say 
you  fired  a  gun  in  action.^ 

The  ball  seemed  to  plump  right  into  the  fire,  for 
there  was  a  scattering  of  flame  in  all  directions. 
The  flight  of  flaming  arrows  ceased ;  but  the  attack 
continued  on  the  southern  and  western  sides.  On 
the  southern  sides  a  few  points  of  fire  came  into 
view  and  zigzagged  about  towards  the  defenders. 

The  ensign,  giving  a  glance  through  an  eastern 
loophole,  exclaimed: 

"  That  clump  is  on  fire ! " 

"  And  there  goes  the  wind  to  help  it,"  said  Har- 
court. 

A  dull  red  glow  brightened  into  flame  on  the 
hillock.  The  flames  soon  burst  up  furiously  among 
the  resinous  trees.  The  entire  field  of  strife  lay  in 
flickering  light  and  shadow.  The  Souriquois'  plan 
of  battle  lay  discovered. 

A  hundi'ed  yards  from  the  block-house,  on  the 


THE  BLOCK-HOUSE. 


43 


southern  side,  stood  Lo  Loutre  urging  on  a  band  of 
redskins,  who,  torch  in  hand,  were  now  running 
straight  for  the  southwestern  angle. 

They  did  not  reach  it.  vOne  by  one  they  dropped 
or  turned  back.  The  wood  burned  clearer  and 
brighter,  and  soon  the  moon  rose  above  the  tree- 
tops.  There  was  no  chance  that  night  for  either 
surprise  or  open  storm. 

"  A  lucky  aim  that  of  yours,  O'Brien,"  said  Tar- 
ling.  "  The  shot  must  have  scattered  the  fire  up  on 
to  the  trees." 

"  Ay,  sir.  We've  been  in  luck's  way  to-night, 
both  on  land  and  sea.  We  settled  the  water  party 
by  getting  in  under  the  guard,  and  we  countered  the 
land  attack  by  a  straight  one  from  the  shoulder.  It's 
Providence  it  is  we  ought  to  thank  for  that  same." 

Next  morning  more  Indians  appeared.  They 
were  of  a  different  tribe,  being  probably  Abenakis, 
but  the  matter  is  of  no  moment.  They  kept  us 
wide  awake  all  through  the  day,  and  so  keen  was 
their  watch  at  night  that  we  could  not  send  the  boat 
back.  It  was  wonderful  how  they  kept  on  for  days 
and  days  maintaining  such  a  spying  on  us  that 


44 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


fil'    ¥: 


every  time  a  face  appeared  at  a  loophole  there  was 
a  shot  to  follow  its  appearance. 

This  was  not  my  idea  of  war.  It  was  tedious 
and  most  melancholy  to  be  cooped  up  in  a  rough, 
wooden  room  and  know  that  death  was  round  the 
corner  of  every  hole ;  and  I  became  too  weary  of 
the  thing  to  get  used  to  it.  The  foes  were  of  course 
watching  each  other.  The  Indians  could  do  nothing 
against  the  strongholds ;  and  the  garrisons  could  do 
nothing  against  the  Indians.  All  depended  on  Du- 
vivier. 

Sometimes  it  was  the  fort  that  was  attacked, 
some  nights  it  was  the  block-house,  sometimes  both 
together  were  assaulted  in  a  spasmodic  way,  but 
nothing  came  of  it.  Each  time  the  Indians  were 
brushed  off  with  ease.  At  last  Le  Loutre  sickened 
of  the  game  that  did  him  no  credit,  and  after  a  last 
desperate  attempt  he  retired.  In  the  morning  there 
was  not  an  Indian  to  be  seen,  and  advantage  was 
taken  of  the  circumstance  to  send  back  the  boat 
with  some  of  the  block-house  garrison ;  and  father 
and  I  went  with  them. 

But  where  was  Duvivier  ?    Duvivier  was  a  com- 


THE  BLOCK-HOUSE. 


45 


mander  mucli  inclined  to  secrecy.  He  had  attacked 
Canso  secretly.  He  had  captured  Chebucto  se- 
cretly. His  plan  foi  the  capture  of  Annapolis  was 
a  secret;  and  the  manner  of  his  advance  was  a 
secret  even  from  Le  Loutre.  The  day  after  Le 
Loutre  had  slunk  off  with  his  Indians  Duvivier 
marched  into  view  from  the  southwest,  at  the  head  of 
nine  hundred  men,  regulars,  militia,  and  Micmacs,  as 
the  Cape  Breton  branch  of  the  Souriquois  are  called. 

The  Governor  looked  serious  when  the  French 
were  descried  coming  out  of  the  wood,  but  we  were 
all  very  cheerful.  We  had  beaten  back  Le  Loutre, 
and  help  from  Boston  ought  to  be  nigh. 

Duvivier  proceeded  scientifically.  He  threw  up 
entrenchments,  and  Mascarene  amused  him  by  giv- 
ing him  an  occasional  cannon-ball.  He  wasted  days 
with  his  earthworks,  and  also  in  endeavoring  to  find 
Le  Loutre.  At  daybreak  one  morning,  supposing 
that  the  garrison  had  been  overstated,  he  attempted 
to  storm. 

We  were  prepared  for  him.  As  soon  as  he  was 
well  within  range  we  let  him  have  all  we  could  give 
him,  and  we  drove  him  back.    I  fired  two  guns  at 


3 


* 


46 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


him,  myself.  Father  was  one  of  our  best  marks- 
men. The  French  attacked  us  again  at  eight 
o'clock.  They  came  again  at  eleven,  and  they  tried 
to  get  at  us  all  the  afternoon  until  the  darkness. 
Each  time  we  brushed  them  off  the  glacis  as  if  they 
had  been  flies. 

Meanwhile  the  Governor  was  getting  anxious. 
If  Le  Loutre  returned  and  the  French  frigates 
came,  he  would  have  to  surrender.  But  though  the 
enemy  might  be  twenty  to  one,  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  hold  out  till  food  failed. 

That  night,  expecting  an  assault  at  dawn,  he 
sent  out  secretly  from  the  fort  and  built  two  more 
bonfires,  one  at  the  northwest  and  the  other  at  the 
southeast  angle.  The  storm  came  as  expected.  Du- 
vivier,  now  joined  by  a  few  of  the  Souriquois,  at- 
tacked on  two  sides  at  once.  The  fires  shot  up,  and 
in  the  firelight  the  fighting  was  close  and  desperate. 
Again^  and  yet  again,  the  French  made  a  rush  across 
the  clear  ground,  only  to  be  driven  back.  The  day 
dawned  on  the  death-struggle.  The  light  gi^ew  on  the 
hill-tops.     The  French  gathered  for  one  last  effort. 

We  saw  them  forming.    We  saw  the  command 


THE  BLOCK-HOUSE. 


47 


given.  All  togetlier,  from  the  east  and  south  sides, 
they  came  towards  us.  I  was  in  the  southeast  bas- 
tion, and  we  gave  them  a  scattering  volley  right  and 
left.  But  some  of  them  passed  the  glacis  and  got 
into  the  ditch,  and  were  climbing  the  palisades, 
when  suddenly  there  was  a  shout  from  the  river- 
side. Coming  up  the  stream  was  Bezek  Angel  with 
the  ioo,  and  behind  her  were  two  larger  vessels. 
The  French  saw  the  ships  were  British,  and  sent 
every  man  to  carry  our  position  before  the  new- 
comei's  could  help. 

But  they  never  got  beyond  the  palisades — neither 
whiteskin,  yellowskin,  nor  redskin.  Amid  all  the 
roaring  and  raging  several  boats  put  off  from  the 
ships;  the  Boston  men  coming  ashore  attacked 
the  French  on  the  flank;  Mr.  Tarling  and  a  de- 
tachment from  the  block-house  came  up  the  road 
into  their  rear;  the  Governor,  charging  out  of 
the  gate  with  a  hundred  of  us,  cleared  the  cause- 
way ;  and  Monsieur  Duvivier  went  to  the  left  wheel 
in  double  quick  march,  as  if  he  had  had  quite 
enough  of  Annapolis  Royal,  which  was  not  to  be 
French  that  time ;  nor  will  it  ever  be. 


\U[ 


1 


;  1; 

m     1 


CHAPTER  Y. 


THE  CRUSADE. 


EXT  morning  came  the  weary  burying  after 
this  Nova  Scotian  Harlaw.  Many  of  the 
people  wept  at  the  ruin  the  Indians  had 
wrought.  It  was  as  though  a  child  trans- 
ported with  passion  had  set  to  work  to  burn  and 
destroy  in  mere  spite.  Of  the  greater  things  I  say 
nothing ;  but  the  mean,  petty  things  that  were  done 
simply  to  annoy  and  cause  misery  gave  me  no  high 
notion  of  those  with  whom  we  had  to  deal. 

Immediately  after  breakfast,  my  father  was 
asked  by  the  Governor  if  he  would  take  despatches 
to  Governor  Shirley  of  Massachusetts,  and  tell  him 
the  story  of  the  siege. 

"You  have  seen  it  all,"  said  Mascarene,  "and 
you  can  tell  him  all.  I  expect  the  frigates  will 
come,  and  we  shall  have  another  attack,  which  I  am 
strong  enough  to  repel.    But  some  person  of  trust 


THE   CRUSADE. 


49 


must  go  to  Mr.  Shirley,  and  I  can  spare  none  of  the 
army  people.  If  any  forces  are  to  be  raised  against 
the  French,  he  may  give  yon  a  commission.  I  will, 
if  you  think  fit,  suggest  as  much  to  him.  If  you 
really  intend  to  settle  at  Chebucto,  it  would  be  of 
use  to  you  as  giving  you  a  standing  in  the  colonies. 
It  is  merely  a  suggestion,  of  course." 

"  But  how  about  my  belongings  1 "  asked  my 
father,  very  naturally. 

The  Governor  laughed. 

"I'll  answer  for  what  are  here.  You  cannot 
possibly  take  them  to  Chebucto,  for  that  is  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  French.  If  you  go  back  with  Angel, 
you  had  better  ship  the  lot  again  so  as  to  have  them 
under  your  control." 

And  that  afternoon  we  were  off  again  back  to 
Boston.  The  brigantine  had  a  narrow  escape  as 
she  came  out  of  the  narrow  gorge  into  the  bay. 
Two  large  ships  were  coming  up  from  the  south- 
ward before  the  wind,  and  were  about  a  couple  of 
miles  away  when  we  sighted  them.  Angel  promptly 
continued  his  westerly  course  right  out  off  the  shore 

from  Roger's  Point,  and  the  ships,  probably  not 
4 


p 

(T 

ii 

Is    <i 

ajA     1 1 

1 

1 

1 

i' 


50 


englishman's  haven. 


thinking  it  worth  while  to  pursue  him,  turned  into 
the  river.  They  were  the  French  frigates,  as  I 
afterwards  heard.  Thev  took  the  two  Boston  vessels, 
but  found  the  fort  too  much  of  a  task  to  tackle 
alone  and  returned  to  Louisbourg  with  their  prizes. 

Louisbourg !  Always  Louisbourg !  It  was  the 
burden  of  every  British  complaint  in  these  parts. 
No  one  spoke  well  of  it.  "  Louisbourg,"  said  Angel, 
"  it  is  the  headquarters  of  everything  that  is  abom- 
inable. It  is  the  curse  of  the  seas.  Talk  about 
Madagascar  and  the  isles  and  the  pirates,  I  tell  you 
they  are  nothing  to  Louisbourg.  It  is  a  French 
stepping-stone  to  pocketing  us,  that  is  what  it  is." 

That  excellent  man  knew  much  about  Louis- 
bourg, and  little  in  its  favor.  He  was  a  Maine  man 
by  birth,  being,  as  my  father  told  me  Adamson  had 
said,  "  non  Anglus  sed  Angelus." 

My  father  took  his  letters  to  handsome  Governor 
Shirley,  and  had  to  answer  many  questions  regard- 
ing himself.  It  is  a  failing  of  all  who  are  in  author- 
ity at  Boston,  and  also  of  those  not  in  authority, 
that  they  are  inquisitive  as  to  the  private  histories 
of  those  with  whom  they  have  dealings.    My  father 


If 


THE  CRUSADE. 


51 


did  not  gratify  Governor  Shirley's  curiosity  more 
than  he  deemed  just.  He  told  him  that  our  family 
was  from  the  south  of  Lanarkshire,  and  that  owing 
to  reverses  he  had  removed  to  Greenock  to  engage 
in  trade,  but  had  not  succeeded  as  he  had  hoped, 
and  had  come  abroad  to  settle  on  his  newly  ac- 
quired land  at  Chebucto.  This  curious  w^ord  Che- 
bucto  proved  to  be  as  useful  to  us  as  "  Open  Se» 
same  "  to  Ali  Baba. 

"Chebucto!"  said  Governor  Shirley.  "I  am 
expecting  Mr.  Pepperrell,  our  leading  merchant. 
He  has  traded  with  Chebucto  and  should  be  able  to 
assist  you  in  that  quarter." 

This  was  welcome  news  to  my  father,  inasmuch 
as  up  to  then  he  had  been  ignorant  that  our  barba- 
rously named  estate  had  any  trade  at  all.  My  father 
saw  Mr.  Pepperrell  that  afternoon,  and  told  me  on 
his  return  that  we  had  been  invited  to  spend  a  few 
days  at  Kittery  Point.  And  thither  we  went  three 
days  afterwards. 

Mr.  Pepperrell  was  one  of  the  most  important 
men  in  New  England.  He  was  a  handsome,  stately 
gentleman,  who  wore  a  scarlet  coat  and  a  powdered 


H 


T 


„  Ji   I. 


m  .' 


; 


52 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


wig,  and  always  looked  very  prim.  He  was  clean 
shaven,  like  all  the  gentlemen  in  the  colony,  and  his 
upper  lip  hi.d  a  slight  droop  to  the  left.  He  was 
one  of  the  pleasantest  men  I  ever  met,  and  was  then 
a  little  short  of  fifty  years  old. 

I  heard  him  say  that  his  father  was  from  Devon- 
shire, in  England,  who,  as  an  orphan,  had  been  ap- 
prenticed on  a  fishing-schooner  of  Newfoundland  and 
had  prospered  and  settled  at  Kittery.  At  twenty- 
one  our  Mr.  Pepperrell,  who  was  the  great  Mr.  Pep- 
perrell,  was  a  captain  of  provincial  cavalry ;  at  thirty 
he  was  commander  of  the  militia ;  and,  although  a 
merchant  and  a  soldier,  he  was  at  thirty-four  made 
Chief-justice  of  the  Common  Pleas.  It  appeared 
strange  to  my  father  that  a  chief-justice  should 
command  militia  and  trade  in  furs  and  fish,  but  so 
it  was ;  and  when  we  knew  Mr.  Pepperrell  better, 
he  used  to  say,  as  I  say  now,  that  all  America  could 
not  produce  a  better  chief -justice  or  commander  of 
militia,  or  a  juster  trader. 

Kittery  was  a  great,  wooden  one-story  house 
with  a  break-back  roof.  The  estate  was  a  large  one. 
Mr.  Pepperrell  could  travel  thirty  miles  in  his  own 


THE  CRUSADE. 


53 


territory.  He  drove  out  in  a  coach-ancl-six,  as  much 
for  his  wealth  as  for  the  badness  of  the  roads,  which 
are  truly  morassic  in  the  colony.  On  the  river  he 
kept  a  barge  which  was  manned  by  negroes  who 
wore  livery. 

At  Kittery  there  was  much  talk  of  the  French 
and  of  Louisbourg.  Mr.  Pepperrell,  on  the  news 
of  the  outbreak  of  the  French  from  Louisbourg 
into  Nova  Scotia,  advised  my  father  that  as  Che- 
bucto  had  fallen  into  French  hands  he  would  do 
well  to  remain  in  Boston  until  Colonel  Mascarene 
had  retaken  the  block-house  there. 

When  we  returned  to  Boston  we  found  that 
there  was  also  much  talk  there  of  the  French  and  of 
Louisbourg.  Every  one  had  something  to  say  about 
Louisbourg.  It  was  Louisbourg,  Louisbourg,  from 
morning  till  night  in  chapel  and  street.  There  was 
an  uneasy  feeling  that  something  of  great  impor- 
tance was  in  view.  The  chief  men  of  the  colony 
were  reported  to  be  in  the  town  in  unusual  num- 
bers, and  there  were  mysterious  meetings  of  the 
legislature  concerning  which  outsiders  could  ob- 
tain no  information. 


■m 


\ 


ii 


«i»J 


iliu 


II 


54 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


Mr.  Popperrell's  manner  when  lie  advised  my 
father  to  wait  a  little  was  also  mysterious.  Ho 
seemed  to  know  more  aljout  Chebucto  than  he  liked 
to  say. 

"What  can  it  all  mean?"  my  father  asked  Cap- 
tain Angel. 

"  Something  in  the  wind,  yon  may  safely  reckon," 
said  the  captain,  "  and  that  sort  of  something  can- 
not be  long  hid." 

Early  in  January  the  secret  was  out.  It  was 
discovered  by  prayer,  in  a  manner  altogether  ex- 
traordinary.   And  we  were  the  first  to  know  of  it. 

Captain  Angel  and  I  were  on  our  way  to  father's 
lodgings  one  evening,  and  had  been  silent  for  a 
short  space,  when,  as  we  approached  one  of  the 
houses,  we  heard  a  man's  voice.  It  was  a  deacon 
in  prayer.  "We  did  not  stop,  but  we  could  not  help 
hearing  as  we  passed,  for  he  prayed  so  loudly  and 
fervently,  thinking,  I  suppose,  that  he  was  alone. 

"  That  it  may  i3lease  Thee,"  he  said,  "  to  guide 
and  direct  me  as  to  my  vote  in  the  General  Court, 
that  what  I  do  may  be  for  Thy  glory  among  Thy 
creatures.    If  Thou  wilt  aid  us,  this  proud  fortress 


THE  CRUSADE. 


55 


of  Louisbourg,  this  haunt  of  robbery  and  iniciuity 
and  stronghold  of  the  worship  of  false  gods,  will  bo 
swept  away  right  surely  without  aid  from  our  fel- 
low-Christians across  the  sea.  But  without  Thy  aid 
we  are  as  naught." 

We  passed  on,  and  when  we  were  out  of  earshot, 
Angel  said  he  was  sorry  he  had  not  waited  for  more, 
but  to  listen  to  a  man  at  his  private  devotions  was 
mean.  Should  we  keep  the  secret  ?  We  would  have 
done  so  had  it  not  been  for  a  busybody  who  had 
watched  us  along  the  road,  and  followed  us,  and 
overheard  the  deacon  and  listened  to  the  finish,  and 
then  went  to  tell  his  acquaintance. 

So  that  was  the  great  secret.  New  England  was 
meditating  a  crusade  to  clear  the  French  out  of 
Louisbourg ! 

Here  was  news!  For  days  together  Boston 
went  crazy.  In  all  the  streets,  and  they  were  not 
very  many,  work  was  put  aside,  to  discuss  the 
great  question  of  peace  or  war.  Such  a  case  of 
politics  for  the  people  was  not  of  everyday  oc- 
currence. The  tax  on  the  men  would  be  heavy. 
Here,  those  who  declared  for  war  would  be  the  men 


56 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


who  would  have  to  fight ;  for  the  conquest  of  Louis- 
bourg  could  only  be  effected  by  wholesale  volun- 
teering and  liberal  contributions.  There  was  noth- 
ing new  in  the  colony's  waging  war  on  its  own 
account  without  help  from  the  mother-country. 
That  had  been  done,  and  successfully  done,  in  the 
days  of  Phipps.  And  as  to  funds,  Phipps  had  shown 
the  way  with  his  paper  currency.  If  Phipps  had 
taken  Port  Eoyal  before  it  was  called  Annapolis, 
why  should  not  Pepperrell  take  Louisbourg ! 

Yes !     Pepperrell ! 

His  name  was  in  every  mouth.  If  he  voted  for 
war,  if  he  were  made  commander-in-chief,  there 
would  be  no  scarcity  of  volunteers;  that  he  had 
never  been  in  action,  or  seen  a  regular  fortress,  was 
of  no  consequence.  He  was  a  successful  man ;  he 
had  never  failed  before,  and  he  would  not  fail  now. 
And  thus  the  end  of  it  was  that  the  legislature,  by 
a  majority  of  one  vote,  decided  for  the  war;  and 
Governor  Shirley  appointed  Mr.  Pepperrell  to  com- 
mand the  expedition. 

That  appointment  settled  the  matter.  The  mi- 
nority in  the  legislature  noticed  that  the  loudly 


THE  CEUSADE. 


5/ 


II 


praying  deacon  had  voted  against  them.  His,  then, 
was  the  one  vote  that  decided  the  war.  Surely 
this  was  a  divine  interposition ! 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Douglas  thought  not,  and  he  said 
so.  Divine  interposition,  indeed!  "In  cases  of 
divine  interposition,"  he  said,  "there  are  always 
signs  and  wonders  in  the  heavens." 

Unhappy  man !  The  very  night  after  he  said  so 
there  rose  flaring  in  the  sky  a  comet !  Yes,  actu- 
ally a  comet !  the  finest  that  appeared  in  this  eight- 
eenth century.  The  streets  of  Boston  resounded 
with  shouts  of  "  The  comet !  the  comet ! "  and  in 
a  few  minutes  every  house  was  empty,  the  inhabit- 
ants being  out  on  the  highways  or  on  the  quay, 
staring  up  at  the  glorious  messenger  come  from 
space  to  shatter  the  doubts  of  the  unbelievers. 

"  What  says  Douglas  now  ? "  was  asked. 

What  could  he  say?  Night  after  night  the 
comet  rose  to  bear  flaming  witness  against  him. 
The  scoffers  pointed  aloft,  and  said : 

"  Behold  the  most  welcome  'Ne^  Light  that  has 
appeared  among  us ! " 

The  pious  went  to  their  knees,  and  prayed  to  be 


■  I -ii. 

Mi? 


i,T 


III! 


■1 

.1 

■I 


58 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


forgiven  for  having  withstood  the  inevitab"'  The 
neutrals  were  aghast  at  "the  remarkable  coinci- 
dence." And  finally,  the  minority  went  over  in  a  1/ody 
and  worked  their  hardest  for  the  common  cause. 

All  the  colonies  caught  the  flame.  Massachu- 
setts, with  which  Maine  was  then  united,  raised  over 
three  thousand  men.  New  Hampshire  raised  three 
hundred ;  Rhode  Island  raised  three  hundred ;  Con- 
necticut sent  five  hundred ;  New  York  sent  ten  eight- 
een-pounder  guns ;  Pennsylvania,  with  great  astute- 
ness, discovered  that  though  it  was  against  Quaker 
principles  to  send  men  to  fight,  yet  it  "would  be 
godly  work  to  save  our  fellow-countrymen  from 
starvation,"  and  the  saving  from  starvation  took 
the  form  of  shiploads  of  victuals  invoiced  from 
Philadelphia  as  "  charity  for  the  deserving,"  and  re- 
ceived at  Boston  as  "  provisions  for  the  troops." 

Immense  was  Pepperrell's  popularity.  All  with 
whom  he  had  traded — townsmen,  fishermen,  farmers, 
half-breeds,  Indians — took  it  as  a  point  of  honor  to 
throng  to  the  recruiting  office.  Uniform  there  was 
none ;  all  came  in  their  working  clothes,  and  brought 
their  own  fire-arms. 


THE  CEUSADE. 


59 


Sueli  a  sliow  as  the  eight  regiments  made  when 
in  line  for  inspection  was  never  seen  before.  The 
gentry  and  merchants  were  in  periwigs,  powdered 
and  impowdered,  and  wore  laced  coats  of  scarlet, 
purple,  green,  or  brown.  The  townsfolk  mostly 
wore  their  own  hair,  and  their  garments  were  more 
sombre  in  color  though  more  varied  in  fashion. 
The  fishermen  were  in  baggy  blues  and  oils  and 
browns ;  the  farmers  were  in  homespun ;  the  back- 
woodsmen were  in  skins  and  moccasins;  the  In- 
dians— Mohicans,  Penobscots,  and  Passamaquoddies 
— were  in  full  war-trim,  with  paint,  feathers,  bead- 
work,  and  tomahawks ;  and  the  half-breeds  were  in 
jncturesque  half-and-halfness  with  a  general  ten- 
dency to  the  untidy. 

"  It  was  a  very  miscellaneous  array,"  said  my 
father,  who  had  received  an  appointment  from  Pep- 
perrell  as  captain  in  one  of  these  motley  regiments ; 
and  very  miscellaneous  it  remained,  notwithstanding 
the  power  specially  given  the  State  authorities  to 
visit  all  warehouses  and  select  what  stuffs  they 
deemed  fit  for  uniform  clothing. 

How  strange  is  destiny!    My  father  had  just 


i    '  ■•(! 


-if 
i  i  <.i 


*'     'I 

''    1 


■♦  -  ,1*;; 
1.  ■  '^ 


,ii 


^1 

I  wi  H 

I I  il ' 


60 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


left  Scotland  to  avoid  fighting  for  King  George,  and 
here  he  was  actually  volunteering  for  him  against 
the  Stuart  prince's  ally.  My  father  felt  the  absurd- 
ity of  this,  I  know,  for  before  we  started  he  took 
some  pains  to  explain  to  me  that  the  case  was 
altered,  that  whatever  opinions  he  might  have  held 
as  to  kingly  right,  it  was  preposterous  to  suppose 
that  any  King  of  France  could  be  allowed  to  seize 
on  British  colonies  or  Ardyne  legacies  without 
every  Ardyne  doing  battle  for  them.  He  told  me 
there  were  limits  in  political  endurance,  and  that  he 
considered  Monsieur  Duvivier's  expedition  a  decla- 
ration of  war  against  him  personally,  on  the  ground 
of  his  impertinent  occupation  of  Chebucto. 

In  short,  my  father  was  a  Scot,  and  his  blood 
was  up.  He  spoke  strongly  as  to  the  abominable 
misdeeds  of  Le  Loutre,  the  missionary  of  the  Church 
we  were  accustomed  to  speak  of  with  detestation ; 
and  the  Souriquois  allies  of  the  Stuart's  allies 
made  him  draw  Ids  sword  for  the  side  he  thought 
would  win.  Henceforward  not  a  word  was  said  to 
which  King  George  could  object.  We  were  as 
loyal  and  enthusiastic  as  any  of  the  colonists. 


THE   CKUSADE. 


61 


On  the  water  there  was  as  much  enthusiasm  as 
on  the  land.  The  bav  was  crowded  with  sail.  All 
the  war-ships  of  the  colonies,  fourteen  in  number, 
were  there,  and  a  number  of  merchant  ships  wait- 
ing employment  as  transports.  The  enterprise  was 
to  be  a  secret  one,  of  the  nature  of  a  surprise,  and 
Captain  Tyng,  the  commodore  of  the  fleet,  had  guard 
vessels  about  to  ensure  that  no  ship  went  out  without 
his  full  knowledge  as  to  her  destination;  and  soon 
he  sent  three  of  his  vessels  to  cruise  off  Louisbourg 
and  prevent  any  vessel  entering  the  doomed  city. 

To  keep  all  this  armament  together  money  was 
required ;  and  the  money  was  forthcoming  without 
stint.  Nothing  was  easier  than  to  make  it.  It  was 
of  paper,  the  "  coins  "  being  like  hat  and  coat  cards, 
made  of  two  round  pieces  of  paper  pasted  together 
and  stamped  on  each  side  with  the  colony  arms  and 
the  nominal  value.  The  great  objection  to  this 
currency  was  that  it  wore  out  so  readily. 

In  visiting  the  cabin  of  the  Loo  I  happened  to 
jam  a  bagful  under  the  lid  of  one  of  the  lockers. 

"Take  care,"  said  Angel,  "you've  smashed  up 
all  my  small  change." 


p 

I 

n 

■i 

t  H 

■':( 

j 

' 

9£ 

n 

i 

*l 

V 

SI 

i 

k  j 

'i 
*! 

^1 

1 

& 

•'i  1 

4 

i! 

It  1 

62 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


"  Oil  dear,"  said  I,  opening  the  bag,  "  I  am  so 
sorry.  What  is  to  be  done?  I  have  broken  four 
stiff  ones   in  half  and  crumpled  up  three  greasy 


?> 


ones. 

"We  shall  have  to  change  them  at  the  mint," 
said  Angel.  "  I  have  eight  more  that  went  to  pulp 
in  my  pocket  when  I  got  wet  through  last  night." 

The  "  mint "  was  visited.  The  two  clerks  were 
quite  busy  making  things  pleasant  all  round,  ex- 
changing new  tickets  for  damaged  and  tattered  ones. 

Angel  fared  quite  as  well  as  the  rest.  The  clerk 
exchanged  the  broken  "  coins  "  for  new  of  the  same 
value,  and  he  also  exchanged  the  pulped  ones,  but 
one  of  the  greasy  ones  he  demurred  to  as  not  being 
shabby  enough. 

"  Pay  it  out,"  he  said,  "  and  let  it  have  another 
turn  before  it  comes  in." 

Captain  Ardyne  was  inclined  to  be  sarcastic  re- 
garding this  currency ;  but  what  he  said  need  not 
be  quoted.  The  currency  served  its  turn  because 
the  people  were  honest.  That  such  box-bottoms 
would  be  appreciated  in  Glasgow  or  the  south  of 
Lanark  was  not  to  be  expected. 


THE  CKUSADE. 


63 


I 


At  last,  in  the  mystic  time  of  seven  times  seven 
days,  everything  was  ready  for  this  armada.  There 
were  four  thousand  three  hundred  troops,  inckiding 
officers,  ready  to  be  embarked  in  the  fleet  of  ninety 
transports  at  anchor  among  the  islands  in  the  bay. 

But  Boston  was  in  a  ferment  on  another  matter. 
In  October  there  had  arrived  the  great  Mr.  George 
Whitefield,  at  whose  funeral  a  few  years  ago  all  the 
black  cloth  in  Georgia  was  used  up.  Much  was 
made  of  Mr.  Whitefield,  who  had  been  at  Boston 
before,  and  given  offence  to  many  and  comfort  to 
others.  Pepperrell  had  gone  out  in  a  boat  to  wel- 
come him  and  invite  him  to  his  house,  but  the  min- 
ister was  so  prostrated  after  a  stormy  voyage  of 
eleven  weeks  across  the  Atlantic,  that  it  was  only 
with  difficulty  ho  could  be  brought  ashore.  Once 
ashore,  a  certain  section  of  the  people  would  not  let 
him  rest.  They  crowded  in  front  of  the  house  in 
which  he  lodged,  and  they  prayed  and  sang  hymns 
in  the  roadway,  and  thus  by  their  thronging  and 
noise  made  themselves  a  nuisance  to  those  whose 
opinions  on  religious  matters  were  of  the  older 
school,  or  who  were  insincere  in  all  such  matters. 


:(, 


!l!w 


ll 

!^)^ 


64 


englishman's  haven. 


When  at  last  lie  was  able  to  preach,  the  enthu- 
siasm was  so  great  that  the  crowds  went  in  thou- 
sands, yes,  really  in  thousands,  to  listen  to  him. 
So  energetic  was  he  that  he  held  services  as  early 
as  six  o'clock,  and  in  the  cheerless  gloom  of  a 
winter's  morning,  and  often  amid  falling  snow, 
people  of  all  ranks,  but  mostly  of  the  lowest,  would 
go  thronging  into  the  hall  which  held  two  thousand, 
and  pack  it  so  closely  that  the  only  way  in  for  the 
preacher  was  through  the  window. 

Mr.  Whitefield  always  made  a  collection  for  his 
orphanage,  which,  according  to  those  who  are  fond 
of  scandal,  meant  his  own  pocket.  I  do  not  think 
so  meanly  of  him.  He  may  have  lived  on  the  best 
of  everything,  and  I  believe  he  did;  but  surely  a 
man  who  could  make  the  poor  think  of  something 
else  than  money  for  even  a  few  minutes  in  a  morn- 
ing was  worth  all  it  cost  to  feed  him  well !  Besides, 
he  really  had  an  orphanage — which  ended  miser- 
ably after  his  death. 

This  religious  fervor  was  strange  to  me.  There 
were  all  the  vagabonds  in  the  street  asking  each 
other  if  they  were  ^'  convicted,"  which  meant  if  they 


THE  CKUSADE. 


65 


had  no  doubt  whatever  concerning  their  everlasting 
happiness ;  and  many  of  the  self-styled  "  convicts  ^ 
strutted  about  with  laughable  airs  of  superiority. 
They  thought  themselves  so  very  much  better  than 
the  rest  of  us.  But  even  the  strut  was  not  un- 
healthy, for  it  at  least  showed  they  had  hope  of 
themselves. 

I  wished  to  hear  Mr.  Whitefield,  but  my  father 
thought  six  o'clock  on  a  week-day  morning  was  an 
uncomfortable  hour  for  such  a  purpose,  and  we  did 
not  go.  One  afternoon,  however,  Bezek  Angel  and 
I  went  to  hear  another  preacher,  who  was  only 
second  to  Whitefield  in  the  stir  he  made. 

This  young  man's  trade  had  been  to  make  the 
sticky  papers  on  which  flies  are  caught,  and  on 
being  "  convicted,"  he  had,  in  his  own  words,  "  left 
off  catching  flies  to  catch  souls,"  and  he  gloried  in 
his  name  of  Catch-em-alive-oh. 

Catch-em-alive-oh  had  a  strong  pulpit,  and  he 

used  it  mercilessly.    He  banged  it  with  his  hands, 

and  he  kicked  it  with  his  knees  and  feet ;  he  slapped 

his  thighs,  and  shook  his  fists  at  the  congregation, 

and  he  actually  put  one  of  his  knees  on  to  the  top 
5 


f}^ 


06 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


Ill        1 


of  his  pulpit,  and  pretended  to  struggle  in  the  air, 
to,  as  he  said,  "  save  the  souls  and  catcli-em-alive- 
oh!" 

One  minute  he  would  draw  himself  up  to  the 
full  length  of  his  lanky  person  and  appear  to  be 
toppling  over,  the  next  ho  would  have  his  chin 
down  on  the  pulpit  so  that  we  could  only  see  his 
head.  His  discourse  was  merely  scraps  of  Scripture, 
with  ungi'ammatical  and  incomplete  sentences  as 
connective  tissue.  He  laughed  ha!  ha!  and  he 
yelled  ho !  ho !  and  showed  in  pantomime  how  all 
the  unconvicted  would  writhe  and  sputter  as  they 
roasted  everlastingly;  but,  as  it  was  a  very  cold 
day.  Angel  and  I  were  not  as  much  terrified  at  the 
j)rospect  as  we  might  have  been  in  summer. 

Catch-em-alive-oh,  who  would  have  done  well  in 
the  tropics,  was  said  to  be  an  exact  copy  of  White- 
field  ;  but  he  had  only  copied  the  objectionable  ges- 
ticulations, as  I  afterwards  discovered.  His  visit 
was  only  a  brief  one.  It  was  said  there  was  not 
room  for  him  and  Whitefield  in  Boston  at  the  same 
time ;  and  he  returned  to  Connecticut,  where  he  was 
held  in  greater  esteem.     Frankly,  I  thought  him 


THE  CRUSADE. 


67 


absurd,  but  even  his  work  did  more  good  than  harm, 
as  many  who  were  deaf  to  more  reverent  expostula- 
tion were  led  to  give  less  trouble  to  the  magistrates. 
So  great  was  Mr.  Whitefield's  influence  among 
the  recruits  that  Pepperrell  asked  him  to  accompany 
the  expedition  as  one  of  the  chaplains.  But  whether 
it  was  that  he  did  not  choose  to  be  one  among  many, 
or  that  he  did  not  care  for  the  dangers  of  the  seat 
of  war,  I  know  not ;  anyhow,  he  refused.  He,  how- 
ever, did  much  to  encourage  the  expedition,  and 
publicly  promised  to  pray  three  times  a  day  for  its 
success.  One  of  the  commissaries,  a  Mr.  Sher- 
burne, thereupon  asked  him  "  to  sanctify  a  standard 
for  the  troops,"  and  in  response  to  this  request  he 
gave  one  of  the  regiments  a  handsome  flag  bearing 
Nil  desperandum^  Christo  duce  as  a  motto.  After 
the  enthusiastic  reception  of  this  flag  by  all  parties 
in  the  State,  he  helped  on  the  expedition  by  every 
means  in  his  power;  and  so  combined  religious 
enthusiasm  with  our  warlike  politics  as  to  make  us 
all  believe  we  were  engaged  in  a  holy  war.  Even 
the  most  peaceable  of  the  "  convicted  "  gave  us  their 
prayers  and  talked  about  Sabaoth. 


J 


'M 


'  .iiSi 


m 


68 


ENGLISHMAN  S  HAVEN. 


MJ 


mi 


The  day  before  we  embarked  he  offered  to  preach 
a  sermon  to  the  troops.  The  offer  was  a  most  wel- 
come one.  "  Here  is  Peter  the  Hermit  come  to  life 
again ! "  as  Pepperrell  said. 

I  shall  never  forget  that  sermon.  I  had  never 
seen  Whitefield  before,  nor  have  I  seen  him  since. 
His  face  was  not  handsome.  He  had  a  long  upper 
lip  and  projecting  teeth,  and  he  squinted  badly  with 
the  left  eye.  His  gesticulation  was  simply  gro- 
tesque ;  and  he  was  this,  and  he  was  that,  and  every- 
thing we  could  find  fault  with — but  his  voice  was 
wonderful. 

Garrick  said  Whitefield  could  make  men  weep 
or  laugh  or  quake  according  to  the  way  in  which  he 
chose  to  pronounce  the  one  word  Mesopotamia,  only 
the  one  word;  and  I  have  heard  the  great  actor 
ring  the  changes  on  that  word  by  way  of  example, 
but  his  voice  was  nothing  like  so  fine  as  the  preach- 
er's, who  could  be  heard  clearly  at  a  distance  of  a 
quarter  of  a  mile.  Not  that  he  bawled,  but  that  he 
sent  his  voice  travelling  without  effort.  Angel  said 
he  would  be  useful  in  a  gale  of  wind,  but  Angel  at 
this  time  was  inclined  to  say  more  frivolous  things 


THE  CRUSADE. 


G9 


than  he  really  thought.  Of  that  wonderful  voice, 
sweet  as  a  flute,  and  always  musical,  pleading, 
wheedling,  threatening,  taunting,  cheering  us  on,  I 
heard  every  word.  My  father  said  it  was  a  fine 
sermon,  and  was  pleased  with  it ;  but  it  would  not 
be  much  admired  in  these  days. 

At  first  I  thought  the  preacher  was  slyly  poking 
fun  at  the  congregation.  His  text  was,  to  say  the 
least  of  it,  an  unexpected  one :  "  And  every  one  that 
was  in  distress,  and  every  one  that  was  in  debt,  and 
every  one  that  was  discontented  gathered  themselves 
unto  him :  and  he  became  a  captain  over  them." 

I  saw  the  men  look  at  each  other  as  Whitefield 
solemnly  gave  this  out,  and  some  looked  angry  and 
some  smiled,  for  indeed  there  was  a  certain  amount 
of  truth  in  the  suggestion.  It  was  so  strange  a  text 
that  all  remembered  it,  and  sat  wondering  how  the 
preacher  would  get  on.  That  he  meant  well  we  all 
believed,  but  how  a  text  which  was  practically  an 
insult  was  to  be  developed  complimentarily  was  a 
puzzler. 

It  soon  appeared  that  "Whitefield  was  a  master 
of  the  discursive  style,  and  that  it  mattered  little 


m 


'  ■  ^' 

i .  ■■:■ 


1"  ^  > . 


■Fijpvavv^,-  ^  ■ 


^i 


.f> 


70 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


ft* 


:':  1^ 


iii 


how  he  started.  In  a  few  miuutes  he  had  left 
David  at  AduUam,  aud  was  in  Boston  with  Pej^per- 
rell,  and  then  was  off  again  to  Josliua  and  the  Jor- 
dan. It  seemed  that  the  distress  and  the  debt  and 
the  discontent  were  all  owing  to  the  French,  and 
mainly  to  our  great  enemy  Le  Loutre,  the  Jesuit. 
And  at  the  mention  of  Le  Loutre  Whitefield  became 
suddenly  most  eloquent,  and  told  how  the  poor 
savages  were  misled  as  to  the  character  of  our 
countrymen ;  how,  as  the  price  of  conversion,  they 
h.vi  to  swear  to  massacre  us  wherever  they  might 
find  us,  and  v/ere  kept  supplied  with  arms  and  am- 
munition for  doing  so ;  how  the  mass  was  denied  to 
all  who  would  not  go  to  battle  against  us.  And  he 
spoke  of  many  other  dreadful  things  in  plainer  lan- 
guage than  I  had  ever  heard  in  plain-spoken  Scot- 
land. Then  he  showed  that  the  French  and  not  the 
British  were  the  enemies  of  mankind ;  that  popery 
and  not  Protestantism  was  pagan;  and  that  the 
worship  of  the  mass  was  no  better  than  the  super- 
stitious idolatry  of  the  Micmacs. 

Louisbourg,  he  said,  was  a  "flaunting  outpost 
of  the  Satanic  realm,"  and  our  armament  was  in  the 


THE  CEUSADE. 


71 


V-t  ' 

■  'i  ' 


service  of  the  Lord,  and  would  assuredly  be  "  blessed 
with  the  meed  of  glorious  victory,  such  as  waited 
on  the  standards  of  faithful  Israel  in  the  Promised 
Land."  We  were  the  Israelites  of  our  time.  Our 
leader  was  the  same  sort  of  man.  The  Israelites  of 
old  had  their  Joshua ;  we  had  our  Pepperrell.  Then 
the  preacher  "spiritualized,"  and  the  distress  and 
the  debt  and  discontent  were  shown  to  be  due  to 
our  unconvictedness,  and  that  unconvictedness  was 
our  cave  of  Adullam,  from  which,  under  a  spiritual 
David,  he  accompanied  us  to  victory. 

The  sermon  was  the  talk  of  the  evening.  It 
fanned  the  Protestant  fervor  to  fever  pitch,  and 
crowds  gathered  in  the  streets  to  sing  the  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-fourth  and  other  psalms,  and  march 
as  they  sang.  Old  and  young,  high  and  low,  were 
there  glorying  in  that  strange  combination  of  pa- 
triotism and  fanaticism. 

Next  day  the  hearts  of  the  New  Englanders  beat 
high  at  the  embarkation.  As  one  of  the  regiments 
came  down  to  the  beach,  it  was  noticed  that  there 
marched  at  its  head  its  chaplain,  who  solemnly  bore 
on  his  shoulder  a  great  hatchet  especially  provided 


f 


72 


englishman's  haven. 


by  one  of  the  congregation  for  "  hewing  Agag  in 
pieces."  Who  was  meant  by  Agag  I  could  never 
discover.  I  beheve  the  hatchet  was  really  intended 
for  chopping  down  images  in  Catholic  chapels — for 
which  it  was  never  used. 

There  was  a  busy  scene  in  the  bay  as  the  men 
and  baggage  were  put  on  the  ships.  And  bitter  was 
the  weeping  on  the  part  of  the  women  and  children 
left  behind,  when,  after  a  long  delay,  the  hundi'ed 
vessels  set  their  sail,  and  in  the  favoring  wind  left 
Nantucket  Roads  on  the  New  Englanders'  Crusade. 


I 


CHAPTER  VI. 


§m 


THE  CAMP. 

[N  account  of  her  good  sailing  qualities  the 
Loo  had  been  appointed  "packet"  for  the 
fleet,  and  with  my  father's  permission  I  ac- 
cepted Captain  Angel's  invitation  to  take 
the  trip  to  Canso  in  her.  As  we  carried  the  mail 
we  were  the  last  to  leave  the  quay.  When  we 
started  the  ships  had  formed  into  a  long  crescent 
and  had  sunk  on  the  horizon,  and  when  we  reached 
them  we  were  out  of  sight  of  land.  The  fleet  did 
not  long  remain  together.  A  storm  came  on  which 
lasted  for  some  days  and  dispersed  us.  Our  orders 
were  to  rendezvous  at  Canso,  in  the  extreme  east  of 
Nova  Scotia,  and  we  arrived  there  on  the  4th  of 
April,  but  some  of  the  ships  did  not  come  in  till 
six  days  afterwards. 

We  found  Canso   deserted,  and  as  soon  as  the 
General  arrived  the  troops  began  to  build  a  strong 


74 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


li- 


fi 


M 


block-liouse  aud  arm  it  with  eight  guns.  When  the 
troops  were  landed  they  had  lost  somewhat  of  their 
freshness,  and  many  of  the  fine  coats  were  griev- 
ously stained,  notwithstanding  that  they  had  been 
worn  inside-out  during  the  voyage  to  keep  them  in 
fair  condition.  There  was  much  drilling  every  day, 
and  it  was  much  required.  While  the  expedition 
was  preparing  Governor  Shirley  had  applied  to 
Colonel  Mascarene  to  spare  him  a  sergeant  or  so 
from  Annapolis,  to  give  the  volunteers  a  notion  of 
military  drill,  and  among  those  sent  was  Sergeant 
O'Brien;  and  curiously  enough  there  came  as  one 
of  Mr.  Pepperrell's  aides  Ensign  Richard  Tarling. 
The  Annapolis  men  had  reached  Boston  a  few  hours 
after  our  expedition  had  sailed,  and  had  come  on  by 
the  next  ship. 

As  a  special  favor  Captain  Ardyne  secured  Ser- 
geant O'Brien's  first  services.  His  company  was  a 
very  mixed  one,  but  as  a  stranger  he  had  had  no 
choice  in  the  matter. 

O'Brien's  astonishment  at  the  material  he  was 
expected  to  bring  into  shape  before  the  ice  broke 
up  at  Louisbourg,  I  shall  never  forget.    He  stared 


m 


THE  CAMP. 


75 


at  the  men  for  quite  a  minute  before  he  could  say  a 
word. 

Tarling  simply  began  to  laugh,  much  to  Captain 
Ardyne's  annoyance,  for  my  father's  military  ex- 
perience was  not  extensive,  and  he  was  not  quite 
sure  if  the  ensign  were  laughing  at  him  or  his  men. 
It  was  really  very  rude  of  Tarling  to  laugh  at  our 
men,  but  somehow  I  liked  him  all  the  more  for  it, 
and  I  laughed  too,  whereat  my  father  was   more 


angry. 


The  front  rank  consisted  of  ten  farmers  of  dif- 
ferent heights,  three  fishermen,  two  storekeei^ers, 
a  very  squat  rope-maker,  an  unusually  tall,  thin 
schoolmaster,  a  drayman,  a  blacksmith,  a  sawyer, 
and  six  half -civilized  Passamaquoddy  Indians.  The 
lieutenant  at  the  end  of  this  remarkable  line  was  a 
young  gentleman  in  a  scarlet  coat  with  gold  lace, 
who  wore  white  smalls  and  a  powdered  periwig 
surmounted  by  a  three-cornered  hat.  The  beauti- 
fully varied  effect  may  be  imagined. 

The  sergeant's  first  effort  was  to  size  the  men. 
He  put  the  schoolmaster  at  one  end  of  the  line,  and 
the  rope-maker  at  the  other,  with  the  Passamaquod- 


» 'J 


76 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


dies  dotted  along  at  unequal  intervals.  Then 
O'Brien  tried  how  the  men  would  look  with  the  In- 
dians all  at  one  end,  the  farmers  at  the  other ;  but 
here  again  the  centre  was  lamentably  weak,  and  the 
schoolmaster  towered  above  the  rest  like  an  obelisk. 
But  it  was  the  best  that  could  be  done. 

"  Attention !  ^  said  the  sergeant. 

Four  of  the  line,  including  the  schoolmaster, 
looked  straight  in  front;  some  of  the  others  as- 
sumed an  air  of  nonchalant  alertness;  the  fisher- 
men hitched  up  their  trousers ;  two  of  the  Indians, 
who  were  rather  deaf,  put  their  hands  up  to  their 
ears  so  as  not  to  lose  the  next  word.  The  farmers 
simply  bent  forward  to  listen. 

"AiTah  now!"  said  the  sergeant,  "stand  up 
straight  all  of  you,  and  don't  look  at  me  as  if  you 
thought  I  was  weakminded!  Number  off!  One! 
Say  one ! "  and  he  pointed  to  the  first  Indian. 

"  One !  ^  said  the  Indian. 

"  Two ! "  said  the  sergeant,  pointing  to  the  sec- 
ond Indian. 

The  Passamaquoddy  shook  his  head. 

"  Two ! "  said  the  sergeant. 


If 


4 


lil'^l 


r) 


'One.'"     And  he  pouitid  his  Jbujer  (it  the  .sergeant. 


THE  CAMP. 


77 


ll 


"  No !     One  Indian ! "  said  tlie  Passamaqiioddy. 

"  No !  Two !  "  said  the  sergeant.  "  You  and 
your  brother.'' 

"  Ah !  Two !  "  and  the  Indian  nodded  solemnly, 
as  if  that  were  quite  a  new  view  of  the  case. 

"  Three ! "  said  the  sergeant. 

The  third  Indian  stolidly  held  up  his  left  hand, 
and  with  his  right  turned  down  first  the  thumb, 
then  the  first  finger,  then  the  second. 

*'  Four ! "  said  the  sergeant,  in  disgust. 

The  fourth  Indian  smiled  at  him  exasperatingly. 

"  Four,"  said  the  sergeant  again. 

Still  the  Indian  replied  not. 

"  Four,  I  siy !  '^  said  the  sergeant  angi'ily. 

The  Indx.  n  walked  straight  up  to  him,  and  to 
his  utter  bewilderment  remarked : 

^'What  of  iU  You  think  Indian  fool?  Indian 
no  fool!  One,"  and  he  pointed  his  finger  at  the 
sergeant,  "  one  fool ! " 

O'Brien,  who  was  not  a  short-tempered  man, 
could  not  keep  his  countenance,  and  the  whole  com- 
l)any,  Indians  and  all,  joined  in,  the  Indian  thinking 
that  had  been  the  object  of  the  game  from  the  first. 


(If! 


.M '  r 


i 


78 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


■IS 

:1 


'"i 


ii{.: 


"  Drill  them  1 "  said  the  sergeant  afterwards.  "  It 
is  impossible  until  you  sort  them  out ! " 

And  a  sorting  out  into  races  was  attempted, 
which  improved  matters  considerably.  Captain 
Ardyne  was  relieved  of  his  Indians  and  half-breeds 
and  the  schoolmaster,  and  filled  up  entirely  with 
mechanics  and  countrymen. 

On  the  22d  of  April  His  Majesty's  frigate  Eltliam 
joined  us,  having  been  sent  on  to  us  by  Governor 
Shirley  from  Piscataqua.  And  next  day  we  had  an 
even  more  welcome  surprise  in  the  arrival  of  Com- 
modore Warren  with  three  ships-of-war  from  the 
West  Indies.  The  Commodore  was  soon  off  again 
to  keep  a  watch  on  Louisbourg,  which  we  heard  was 
blocked  with  i(3e  drifted  from  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
blown  up  on  to  the  Cape  Breton  coast  after  passing 
Scatari  by  a  south  wind.  It  was  not  until  the  29th 
that  we  heard  that  Louisbourg  was  clear;  and  on 
that  day,  although  it  was  Sunday,  we  embarked  and 
were  off. 

The  stay  at  Canso  was  most  profit;  uble  for  th^ 
success  of  the  crusade.  Mr.  Pepperrell  and  his 
officers  had  managed  to  instil  some  notion  of  dis- 


THE  CAMP. 


79 


cipline  iuto  the  motley  army — sueli  an  army !  even 
now  I  laugli  as  I  think  of  it !  —and  by  exchange  and 
oUmination  had  so  organized  the  brigades  that  they 
would  be  of  mutual  help  instead  of  mutual  danger. 

The  ice  was  of  great  advantage  to  us.  It  kept 
us  at  Canso  to  get  our  forces  into  order,  and  it  kept 
all  help  out  of  Louisbourg. 


M 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


1.0 


I.I 


b^y^  125 


IL25  i  1.4 


2,2 

IM 

1.6 


^^ 


<F 


Jv 


"^5^ 


;\ 


\ 


^.  <n;v  ^\ 


'^^A.  ""*' 
^ 


i-lf 


ii 


if- 

I 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE    LEGEND. 

[E  iu  the  LoOj  for  I  remained  in  the  brigan- 
tine,  making  myself  useful  in  consideration 
of  my  board  and  lodging,  did  not  remain 
idle  all  the  month.  We  took  some  troops 
across  to  St.  Peter's  with  the  Moulton  expedition 
you  have  doubtless  heard  of,  in  which  the  fort  was 
destroyed  and  the  four  schooners  burned.  I  re- 
mained on  board  most  of  the  time,  but  on  the  last 
day  I  saw  the  fighting  rather  close.  As  none  of 
our  men  were  hurt,  and  the  enemy  all  retreated,  it 
seemed  like  a  sham  fight  to  me,  and  I  thought  little 
of  it. 

When  we  sailed  for  Louisbourg  with  the  fleet  we 
had  Ensign  Tarling  on  board  as  a  passenger.  He 
was,  I  forgot  to  say,  my  senior  only  by  four  years, 
notwithstanding  he  held  His  Majesty's  commission. 
On  the  Sunday  afternoon  as  we  neared  Gabarus 


lill'! 


THE  LEGEND. 


81 


Bay  the  wind  fell  and  the  ships  lay  becalmed,  fortu- 
nately just  out  of  sight  of  the  threatened  fortress. 

"  We  may  get  a  breeze  at  midnight,"  said  Angel, 
"  but  not  before.'' 

"  The  fleet  is  too  crowded,  is  it  not !  ^  said  Tar- 
ling.    "  It  looks  too  close  together  to  be  safe." 

"  Yes,"  said  Angel,  "  the  Commodore  has  been 
caught  napping.  But  a  slight  breeze  will  put  us 
all  right  again." 

"  I  suppose  Duchambon  will  give  us  a  warm  re- 
ception. It  is  very  unlikely  that  he  has  not  heard 
of  our  coming.  I  should  not  wonder  if  to-morrow 
we  breakfasted  a  la  Souriquois." 

"  Or  Micmac,"  said  Angel.  "  We  saw  some  of 
those  fellows  at  St.  Peter's." 

"Yes,"  said  I,  joining  in,  "but  they  seemed  to 
be  on  our  side." 

"  How  do  you  make  that  out  ? "  asked  the  ensign. 

"  When  the  colonel  ended  the  last  attack,"  said 

Angel,  "he  drove  the  French  across  the  narrow 

isthmus  uniting  the  two  halves  of  Cape  Breton 

Island.    As  our  men  advanced  we  noticed  arrows 

from  the  rear  being  shot  at  the  fugitives,  and  wo 
6 


82 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


I     ^ 


m 


saw  three  Indians  appear  in  the  path  and  deliber- 
ately attack  the  retreating  French,  and  then  make 
a  rush  back  to  theii*  canoes  and  paddle  out  on  to 
the  Bras  d'Or.»' 

"  That  looks  like  treachery,''  said  Tarling. 

"We  could  not  understand  it,"  said  I,  "but  I 
should  know  the  traitors  again,  any  way.  At  least 
I  should  know  one.  He  looked  so  strong  and  had 
such  a  noble  face.  I  suppose  there  are  French  Mic- 
macs  and  British  Micmacs." 

"  No,"  said  Angel,  "  say  rather  French  Micmacs 
and  Micmac  Micmacs." 

"  I  was  wondering  just  now  what  had  become  of 
the  medicine-man  of  yours." 

"  What,  the  Micmac  with  a  curse  ?  Ah !  I  never 
heard." 

"  What  curse  ? "  asked  Tarling. 

"  Oh,  a  famous  yarn  of  the  skipper's.  Get  him 
to  tell  it  to  you." 

"  Please  do !  "  said  the  ensign. 

"  It  is  the  full,  true,  and  particular  story  of  Eng- 
lishman's Haven,"  said  I. 

"  Not  so  many  years  ago —  "  began  Angel. 


THE  LEGEND. 


83 


"  All ! "  said  Tarliug,  "  that  is  better  than  *  once 
upon  a  time ' ! " 

"  Now,  sir,"  said  Angel,  "  this  is  a  true  story." 
"  That  will  not  help  it  if  it  be  not  a  good  one." 
"  Well,  it's  a  true  one,  and  a  good  one ;  and  so 
give  me  a  chance  to  its  end.    This  is  how  the  story 
goes.    A  ship  came  ashore  one  night  in  a  certain 
haven  on  this  coast,  being  steered  for  a  light  that 
the  rascally  Micmacs  were  manoeuvring  on  the  cliffs. 
You  understand?" 
"  Perfectly." 

"  The  Indian  wreckers  lured  the  Frenchmen  on 
to  the  rocks,  and  during  the  stormy  night  the  ves- 
sel went  to  pieces.  A  few  of  her  crew  were  washed 
ashore  dead,  and  were  found  next  morning  by  the 
savages.  But  on  board  of  her  was  an  Englishman, 
a  prisoner,  and  he  was  found  drifting  about  on  a 
spar.  An  Indian  girl  took  pity  on  him  and  went 
off  in  a  canoe  and  towed  the  poor  fellow  ashore. 
Perhaps  she  wanted  to  eat  him  or  burn  him  alive, 
perhaps  she  didn't — we'll  believe  she  didn't — at  any 
rate,  she  changed  her  mind.  As  soon  as  the  Eng- 
lishman landed,  he  looked  out  seaward  and  saw  two 


xu 


<^ 


m 


84 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


M 


men  on  a  pointed  rock,  and  in  dumb  show  asked 
the  Indians  to  save  them.  As  none  of  them  showed 
a  sign  of  doing  so,  he  jumped  back  into  the  girPs 
canoe  and  paddled  off  with  her  to  the  rock.  There 
was  only  room  in  the  canoe  for  one  at  a  time,  and 
they  took  off  first  one,  then  the  other.  Now  the 
Indian  girl  was  the  chiefs  daughter,  and  being  dif- 
ferent to  most  Indians,  she  took  a  fancy  to  the  Eng- 
lishman^ and  fell  in  love  with  him  and  begged  her 
father  not  to  cook  him,  or  the  rest,  as  had  been  sug- 
gested.  Consequently  the  three  who  escaped  from 
the  wreck  were  allowed  to  live,  solely  on  account  of 
the  girl  begging  their  lives.  Now  the  first  French- 
man who  had  been  saved  made  friends  with  the 
chief,  and  tried  to  set  him  against  the  Englishman, 
telling  him  he  was  a  prisoner  and  an  enemy  and  so 


n 


\ 

t 


on. 

"Why!"  asked  Tarling. 

"  You  shall  hear  in  a  moment.  The  old  Indian 
began  to  think  about  sacrificing  the  Englishman. 
And  he  would  have  done  so  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  Indian  girl,  who  had  her  own  reasons  for  thwart- 
ing Mounseer,  the  chief  of  which  was  that  he  wanted 


THE  LEGEND. 


85 


to  many  her,  to  which  she  was  in  no  way  agree- 
able. The  other  Frenchman  was  also  after  the 
young  Indian,  and  received  no  encouragement.  So 
here  was  a  kettle  of  fish — all  of  tliem  pulling  against 
each  other,  and  all  in  hourly  risk  of  being  slaugh- 
tered by  the  Micmacs ;  for  no  Indian  girl  is  allowed 
to  marry  out  of  that  tribe,  at  least  so  the  story 
goes.  Well,  it  did  not  take  long  for  matters  to 
come  to  a  head.'' 

"  Probably  not." 

"  Just  so,"  said  Angel.  "  And  the  end  came  in 
this  way.  There  was  a  medicine-man  among  the 
Micmacs,  a  shrewd  young  fellow  of  business  enough, 
whose  reputation  was  mainly  due,  I  fancy,  to  his 
ability  in  finding  out  which  way  the  wind  blew. 
Well,  one  day  he  came  to  the  camp  and  proceeded  to 
hold  service,  or  whatever  they  call  it.    That  year —  " 

"  What  year  ? "  asked  I. 

"Thirty  years  ago,  I  believe,  there  had  been  a 
plague  of  field-mice  in  the  island;  every  one  was 
talking  of  field-mice,  and  the  medicine-man  thought 
fit  to  offer  his  views  on  field-mice  and  locusts — yes, 
locusts — in  the  future.    He  set  all  the  tribe  around 


.  *i 


86 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


I-  '< 
:1 


him  and  took  a  bowl  or  oorakin — I  don't  know  liow 
you  spell  it,  so  don't  ask  me — and  stood  it  in  the 
centre  of  the  Micmac  circle.  No!  I  am  wrong 
there.  First  of  all  he  filled  the  oorakin  with  spring 
water  and  set  it  in  the  centre  and  waited  for  the 
water  to  clear.  Well,  it  didn't  clear.  So  at  the  end 
of  some  time,  half  an  hour,  may  be,  mumbling  his 
peculiar  jargon,  he  threw  the  water  away  and 
fetched  some  more,  which  cleared  right  enough,  and 
he  began  business.  Round  and  round  he  strode, 
and  bending  down  he  looked  into  the  oorakin,  and 
then  what  do  you  think  he  did ! " 

"  Drank  the  water,"  said  Tarling. 

"  No,  he  went  round  the  ring  and  whispered  to 
every  Indian  to  whisper  to  him  what  he  or  she 
might  be  thinking  of." 

"  That  is  a  good  basis  for  the  prophecy ! " 

"  And  for  the  prophet,  too ! "  said  Angel.  "  Just 
so !  But  when  he  did  prophesy  he  astonished  them ; 
what  do  you  think  he  said  ? " 

"  Really,  I  cannot  tell." 

"  He  said — ^but  I  have  a  copy  of  it  in  my  cabin 
in  print.    I  will  fetch  it." 


I  '  ■'. 


THE  LEGEND. 


87 


In  a  few  minutes  he  was  back  with  a  printed 
leaf  from  some  old  book,  on  one  page  of  which,  near 
the  top,  there  was  a  brown  ink  cross. 

"  This  is  the  speech  of  the  medicine-man  of  the 
Micmacs.  *  There  are  some  here  who  seek  marriage ; 
but  none  to  whom  marriage  will  be  gi'anted  in  the 
way  they  desire.  There  are  maids  who  will  sorrow 
in  vain  and  look  afar  off ;  for  never  will  their  hoped- 
for  suitors  blow  in  their  eyes  the  smoke  of  proposal, 
and  never  will  they  paint  his  face  or  mark  his  arm. 
Never  will  he  go  to  the  woods  to  hunt  for  his  bridal 
feast,  nor  will  his  young  men  bring  him  to  the  wed- 
ding. Never  shall  he  sit  at  the  banquet  before  the 
oorakin  of  roast  meat,  or  listen  to  the  wise  words 
of  the  medicine-man ;  and  never  will  the  oorakin  be 
changed  so  that  the  medicine-man  can  give  the 
blessing :  "  The  Manitoo  man  approves  the  choice. 
What  is  one's  is  the  other's.  Henceforth  you  are 
one  and  the  same."  It  is  in  vain  a  suitor  is  sought 
and  replies  not,  a  suitor  seeks  and  no  reply  will  be 
given.  The^  ^re  not  of  the  Micmacs.  They  must 
go  whence  they  came.  They  will  die  in  the  Great 
Water!'" 


^.i 


88 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


"  That  is  not  half  a  good  curse,"  said  Tarling. 

"  No,"  said  I,  "  it  has  not  enough  swing  in  it." 

"  All  the  more  likelihood  of  its  being  genuine," 
said  Angel.  "You  must  remember  it  is  merely  a 
plain  translation.  But  you  have  not  heard  it  all. 
The  old  man  continued  as  follows :  *  The  old  order 
is  changed :  I  see  in  the  oorakin  that  field-mice  and 
locusts  will  come,  but  they  will  differ  from  the  field- 
mice  and  locusts  we  have  seen  aforetime.  The  field- 
mice  will  be  white  and  be  sprinkled  with  yellow 
flowers,  and  the  locusts  will  be  blue  with  a  red-and- 
white  cross  on  each  wing.  And  the  field-mice  will 
seem  to  be  the  Micmac's  friend  and  be  his  worst 
enemy,  and  the  locust  will  seem  to  be  the  Micmac's 
enemy  and  be  half  his  friend.  And  the  field-mouse 
and  the  locust  will  arrive  together,  and  the  field- 
mouse  will  bite  the  locust,  and  the  locust  will  bite 
him  and  slay  him  and  remain  here  forever.' " 

"  What  did  he  mean  I "  asked  Tarling. 

"  What  he  meant  I  don't  know,"  replied  Angel. 
"  But  what  he  might  have  meant  was  what  the 
Frenchman  thought,  that  by  field-mouse  he  meant 
King  Louis,  and  by  locust  King  George.    How's 


THE  LEGEND. 


80 


her  head,  Tim ! "  continued  Angel,  speaking  to  the 
man  at  the  helm. 

"  As  she  was,  sir." 

"  Right." 

"  I  see  another  complication,"  said  Tarling. 

"Of  course,"  replied  Angel;  "and  Pll  shorten 
in.  The  Frenchmen  put  their  heads  together  and 
caught  the  Englishman  out  on  the  cUff.  The  girl, 
scenting  mischief,  followed  at  a  run.  Frenchman 
number  one  tried  to  stab  him,  but  the  chiefs 
daughter  ran  between  and  knocked  the  knife  aside. 
Unfortunately,  the  Englishman  was  sent  flying  over 
the  rocks  to  bo  killed  below.  The  oorakin-man,  who 
had  seen  the  whole  affair,  arrested  the  criminal  there 
and  then,  and  did  not  leave  him  till  he  had  him  tried 
in  barbarian  fashion  and  executed  more  or  less 
painlessly.  Frenchman  number  two  repented,  apol- 
ogized like  a  gentleman,  and  finally  escaped  and 
told  the  story." 

"  It  was  a  dreadful  tragedy,"  said  I. 

"Where  is  Englishman's  Haven?"  asked  the 
ensign. 

"  Englishman's  Haven  is  what  the  French  called 


m 

at 
ill 


m 


I 


90 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


i|i 


Havre  a  I'Anglois,  and  Havre  a  I'Anglois  had  its 
uame  changed  to  Louisbourg  four-and-twenty  years 
ago." 

"  Then  wo  are  bound  for  Englishman's  Haven  ? " 
*'  We  are.    But  I  have  not  finished  my  story. 
The  medicine-man  cursed  again." 

"  Oh,  dear !  And  what  did  he  say  ? " 
"  *  The  field-mouse  has  bitten  the  locust ;  the  turn 
of  the  locust  will  come.  Cursed  is  the  spot,  on  it 
only  strife  shall  thrive.  A  city  shall  come  and  the 
city  shall  die,  and  Eyes-that-weep  will  live  to  see 
the  end ! ' " 

"  Who  was  Eyes-that-weep  ? " 
"  The  Indian  maid." 
"  But  she  was  killed ! " 
"  No,  the  Englishman  was  killed." 
"And  why  the  name  of  Louisbourg?" 
"To  change  the  name,  I  suppose.    It  was  so 
called  in  1720  when  the  French  came  to  build  the 
fortifications.    A  deal  of  trouble  they  had.    They 
tried  to  build  the  place  of  the  stone  about,  but  they 
could  not  make  it  do ;  and  they  had  to  bring  the 
stone  ready  shaped  from  France.    They  tried  for 


!  Hiili 


THE  LEGEND. 


91 


local  liino  and  failed ;  and  they  had  to  send  for  lime 
to  France.  And  they  sent  to  France  for  bricks,  at 
least  they  said  so.  But  I  believe  that  a  good  many 
of  the  bricks  and  the  timber  and  the  lime  and  the 
stone  came  from  New  England  in  the  way  of  trade. 
Anyhow,  the  fortress  was  built  of  nothing  that  was 
on  the  spot  except  the  earth  and  the  sand  for  the 
mortar ;  sea-sand,  you  know,  and  not  over  good  for 
the  purpose.  A  wonderful  place  is  Louisbourg,  all 
corners  and  towers,  like  the  fortifications  you  see  in 
books,  wall  on  wall,  castle  on  castle,  and  turrets  and 
battlements,  and  guns  pointing  out  of  them  all. 
And  it  cost  the  King  of  France  they  say  five  mill- 
ions of  dollars.  Yes,  five  millions  of  dollars.  And 
what  for!  To  protect  the  fisheries !  As  if  any  one 
would  spend  five  millions  of  dollars  for  a  few  fish, 
and  second-hand  fish  too !  Why  our  New  England- 
ers  catch  the  fish  and  take  it  to  Louisbourg,  and 
tranship  it  in  the  dead  of  night  on  to  French  ves- 
sels under  the  very  forts;  and  away  it  goes  to 
France  as  real  French,  caught  by  Frenchmen,  in 
French  waters !  Protect  the  fish,  indeed !  No,  it  is 
to  look  after  us,  the  blue  locusts,  and  we  shall  have 


TF 


I'  1 


w 


•i!i!i 


92 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


to  swarm  at  it  and  eat  it  away  to  gladden  some 
Eyes-that-weep.'' 

"  King  George  ought  to  give  her  an  annuity,'' 
said  I. 

"  Ah !  ^  said  Angel.     "  She  will  never  die.'' 

"And  why  not?" 

"  So  long  as  there  are  women  there  will  never  be 
an  end  to  Eyes-that-weep.  At  least  that  is  how  I 
take  it." 

"  Do  you  know  the  name  of  the  medicine-man  ? " 

"  No,  I  have  never  heard  it,  and  I  have  met  with 
the  story  up  and  down  in  these  parts  ever  since  I 
was  a  boy." 

"  Is  it  in  print  ? "  asked  Tarling. 

"  Only  the  part  of  it  I  read  to  you ;  that  is  as 
far  as  I  know." 

"  Well,"  said  the  ensign  with  deliberation,  "  if  it 
is  not  true  it  ought  to  be.  It  is  not  a  bad  stoiy  for 
our  side.  If  the  medicine-man  is  alive  Mr.  Pepper- 
rell  should  get  hold  of  him  and  induce  him  to  fulfil 
his  own  prophecy.  I  expect  he  will  be  glad  of  all 
the  help  he  can  get  before  he  is  through  with  this 
business." 


THE  LEGEND. 


93 


"Do  you  think,"  asked  I,  "that  the  walls  of 
Louisbourg  will  fall  as  did  the  walls  of  Jericho,  as 
the  preacher  promised  f " 

"  Not  unless  they  are  built  as  badly,"  said  Angel, 
appearing  on  the  scene.  "  J  know  walls  that  a  mere 
sneeze  will  knock  over,  that  a  drum  would  jar  down, 
that  a  trumpet-blast  would  send  flying —  " 

"  They  are  not  the  only  things  that  would  fly  if 
you  had  hold  of  the  trumpet,"  said  Tarling. 

"  And  yet,"  said  Angel,  "  they  say  I  am  as  good 
a  hand  at  a  blow —  " 

"  I  wish  you  would  blow  up  some  wind,"  said  the 
ensign.  "  This  is  very  quiet  and  pleasant,  but  the 
French  will  know  too  much  about  us  if  we  dawdle 
here  till  daylight." 

The  "dawdling"  did  not  last  so  long.  About 
one  o^clock  in  the  morning  the  wind  sprung  up  and 
the  fleet  resumed  the  voyage.  When  the  30th  of 
April  dawned,  Louisbourg  was  in  sight  of  the  lead- 
ing ships;  and  the  leading  ships  were  in  sight  of 
Louisbourg. 

As  the  New  Englanders  looked  on  to  the  land 
from  the  mast-head  they  saw  lights  gleaming  faintly 


li 


<   I     I 


l!ll 


.!:i  I 


i 


94 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


in  the  citadel.  They  thought  it  was  the  garrison 
watching  for  them.  They  found  afterwards  that 
Governor  Duchambon  had  given  a  ball  that  Sunday 
night,  which  the  news  of  the  appearance  of  the 
unexpected  fleet  was  to  break  up  in  haste  on  that 
clear,  chill  Monday  morning. 

At  sunrise  the  French  saw  the  white  sails  of  the 
wide-stretching  armada  still  coming  up  out  of  the 
west,  and  before  eight  o'clock  one  hundred  ships 
were  at  anchor  in  Gabarus  Bay  within  striking  dis- 
tance of  Louisbourg. 

And  this  was  not  all.  Looking  out  seaward  the 
French  saw  in  the  offing  another  squadron,  that  of 
Commodore  Warren,  which  they  at  first  thought  to 
be  their  own,  but  which  they  soon  learned  from  a 
merchant  ship,  that  slipped  in  after  a  chase,  was 
evidently  intended  to  keep  off  all  succor  from 
France. 

There  were  ringings  of  bells,  and  firings  of  can- 
non, and  musterings  of  troops,  and  much  vigor  of 
assisted  eloquence,  which  soon  stopped  when  it  was 
seen  tuat  an  immediate  attempt  was  to  be  made  to 
land. 


THE  LEGEND. 


95 


Our  boats  were  lowered  from  the  ships  on  both 
sides,  but  the  enemy  saw  only  those  on  the  side 
towards  the  town.  These  made  off  in  a  line  as 
though  to  row  straight  for  the  ugly  pile  of  slopes 
and  angles.  We  saw  the  French  troops  march  to 
oppose  them ;  but,  when  they  had  gone  far  enough 
for  the  ruse,  our  boats  turned  and,  the  other  boats 
coming  out  from  behind  our  ships,  joined  them; 
and  the  united  flotilla  went  straight  at  the  shingle 
beach.  They  reached  it  at  Freshwater  Cove  long 
before  Morpang  the  Rover  and  his  Frenchman  could 
come  near. 

Morpang  arrived  at  last  and  did  his  best,  but  the 
New  Englanders  were  simply  blazing  with  martial 
heat.  They  went  at  the  enemy  as  if  he  were  merely 
a  rabbit,  and  rushed  him  back  at  a  run,  capturing 
Morpang  himself  and  chevying  into  the  fortress  the 
men  they  did  not  kill. 


m 


-  f-'4 


1 


;i|i| 


:; 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


THE  BATTERY. 


[E  New  Englanders  were  jubilant,  as  well 
they  might  be,  at  their  first  success.  They 
had  not  lost  a  man ;  and  they  were  safe  on 
land,  had  formed  their  camp,  and  had  driven 
the  enemy  behind  the  walls  of  what  seemed  to  them 
a  most  uselessly  complicated  stronghold.  That  they 
would  ever  possess  these  fortifications  was  quite 
another  matter. 

General  Pepperrell  rode  out  on  to  a  hill  to  look 
down  at  this  nest  of  angles.  It  was  a  little  place  a 
mile  and  a  half  in  circuit,  and  very  unlike  a  city, 
though  it  claimed  to  be  one.  It  was  like  a  picture 
in  a  book,  trim  and  stiff  and  neat  as  if  it  had  been 
a  model  in  cork  or  cardboard.  There  was  no  con- 
cealment as  to  its  armament.  It  had  a  hundred 
cannons  of  heavy  calibre  and  many  mortars ;  and 
there  were  two  massive  outworks  each  armed  with 
thirty  guns. 


J I 


THE  BATTERY. 


97 


As  Pepperrell  looked  at  it  and  counted  off  its 
Maurepas  Bastion,  its  Bonrillon  Bastion,  its  Prin- 
cess Bastion,  its  Queen's  Bastion,  its  King's  Bastion, 
its  Citadel,  its  Dauphin's  Bastion,  its  Circular  Bat- 
tery, its  Battery  de  la  Greve,  and  its  distant  Grand 
Battery,  and  tried  to  identify  what  he  knew  ought 
to  be  there,  from  his  dim  recollection  of  the  little 
fortification  he  had  read  in  his  youth — glacis  and 
traverse,  ditch  and  parapet,  rampart  and  guard- 
house— he  may  well  be  pardoned  for  an  anxious 
thought  as  to  the  insufficient  means  at  his  com- 
mand. To  surprise  it  as  had  been  intended  was 
evidently  impossible;  he  must  lay  siege  to  it  in 
some  form;  and  for  such  a  siege  he  had  neither 
men  nor  material.  Nevertheless  he  never  seems  to 
have  wavered  in  his  faith  that  Louisbourg  was  to 
be  his. 

"We  shall  take  it  notwithstanding  its  many 
frills,"  he  said  to  Vaughan,  his  second  in  command, 
whom  on  the  1st  of  May  he  sent  off  to  reconnoitre 
on  the  far  side  of  the  harbor. 

My  father's  company  formed  part  of  Vaughan's 

column,  and  I  went  with  him,  and  Mr.  Tarling  also 
7 


frvt-- 


:,-i 


m 

n  ■ 

¥ 

» 

! 

! 
i 

1 

• 

i 

,•  if. 


i;ii;'! 


98 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


went,  he  having  been  appointed  Colonel  Vaughan's 
aide. 

We  started  in  the  afternoon. 

We  led  off  to  the  northward  through  a  valley 
into  the  woods,  and  then  bore  eastward,  having 
t^irown  out  the  Indians  as  scouts  to  guard  against 
surprise.  We  were  soon  through  the  forest  and  out 
opposite  the  front  of  the  west  gate  of  the  fortress, 
which  looked  veiy  strong  now  we  were  close  to  it. 
The  enemy  espied  us,  and  we  gave  him  three  cheers 
to  show  we  were  in  good  heart. 

•  We  then  returned  to  the  woods,  and,  skirting  the 
harbor,  made  off  inland  so  as  to  keep  out  of  sight  of 
the  gaiTison  of  the  Grand  Battery.  At  dusk  we 
crossed  a  small  river,  which  we  marked  as  a  good 
spot  for  a  bivouac,  and  keeping  on  in  a  wide  curve 
we  came  out  in  the  darkness  among  the  houses  on 
the  northeast  harbor.  Among  them  we  found  a  few 
warehouses  of  wine  and  brandy  and  naval  stores. 
Though  many  thought  it  wasteful,  we,  by  the 
colonel's  orders,  set  fire  to  the  goods,  both  solid  and 
liquid,  and  there  was  a  fierce  flame  and  much 
smoke. 


THE  BATTERY. 


99 


After  doing  this  damage  and  driving  the  few 
inhabitants  out,  and  alarming  the  enemy  with  the 
idea  that  an  endeavor  to  storm  the  fortress  was  to 
take  place  that  night,  the  column  returned  to  the 
little  clearing  in  the  forest  which  had  been  chosen 
as  the  site  of  the  bivouac.  It  was  nearly  circular ; 
a  green  patch  among  the  pine  trees  with  the  river 
winding  through  it. 

"  This  is  what  I  like,''  said  I,  as  we  sat  round  the 
camp-fire.     "  Surely  Chebucto  cannot  beat  this." 

"  Do  not  make  too  sure,''  said  the  ensign.  "  From 
what  I  have  heard  there  are  spots  there  quite  as 
pleasant  as  this  one.  Did  you  not  see  the  countiy 
as  you  passed  it  ?  " 

"  We  went  by  it  in  the  dark,"  said  father. 

"  Ah,  yes,"  said  Tarling,  "  we  were  twelve  hours 
after  you,  and  found  it  in  sunshine." 

"  It  appears  to  be  a  strangely  roundabout  way 
to  arrive  at  our  journey's  end,  but  it  may  be  that 
we  have  been  well  employed." 

"  Suppose,  father,  the  secret  of  Chebucto  were  to 
be  solved  in  Louisbourg?" 

"  Secret,  you  call  it  ?    There  is  no  secret.    It  is 


>:i!S'f| 


"p'im 


^!i 


'i&li 


100 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


all  as  plain  as  a  pikestaff.  The  only  secret  I  know 
is  as  to  what  your  uncle  did  with  his  money." 

"Would  it  not  be  surprising  if  that  were  found 
in  Louisbourg?" 

"  Surprising,  indeed,  but  not  impossible.  Every- 
thing is  possible.'' 

"  Why  is  it,"  asked  I,  "  that  whenever  I  think  of 
Louisbourg  I  think  of  the  medicine-man  and  Eyes- 
that-weep,  and  when  I  think  of  them  I  think  of 
that  Indian  at  St.  Peter's  and  our  property  at  Che- 
bucto  ? " 

"  Because,"  said  Tarling,  "  you  thought  of  those 
things  in  that  order  once,  and  when  you  think  of 
one  of  them  now  you  encourage  yourself  to  think 
of  the  rest." 

"  But  why  should  I  have  thought  of  them  in  that 
order  once  I    Why  I " 

"  Echo  answers  why,"  said  Tarling.  "  It  is  one 
of  those  why's  that  puzzle  the  foolish." 

"  But  is  it  not  strange  ? " 

"  Eyes-that-weep  is  in  Louisbourg,  I  understand," 
said  Captain  Ardyne.  "That  would  account  for 
the  association  of  ideas." 


THE  BATTERY. 


101 


"Otherwise,"  said  Tarling,  "it  would  be  medi- 
cine, as  the  Indian  says,  and  you  might  as  well  have 
recourse  to  his  oorakin." 

"  You  look  rather  red  for  a  blue  locust,"  said  I. 

"  Silence,  there,  gentlemen !  "  Colonel  Vaughan 
was  heard  to  say.     "  Mr.  Tarling !  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  the  ensign,  obeying  the  summons. 

Soon  all  was  quiet  in  the  camp.  The  sentinels, 
changed  every  hour,  gave  no  alann.  At  the  first 
flush  of  daylight  the  bivouac  was  broken  up,  and 
the  men  prepared  for  their  march  to  headquarters. 
The  vanguard,  with  whom  I  went,  consisted  of  a 
few  Passamaquoddies.  As  they  crossed  a  small  gap 
in  the  woodland  I  was  astonished  to  see  Joe,  the 
leading  Indian,  stand  still,  and  hold  his  right  arm 
aloft,  and  wave  it  gently  outward  once  or  twice. 

"What  is  Joe  doing?"  I  asked  of  the  nearest 
Indian. 

"He  talking,"  said  the  Indian.  "There  is  In- 
dian near  and  he  asking  what  nation." 

I  looked,  and  in  the  shadow  of  the  trees  I  could 
see  an  Indian  facing  us  and  also  gesticulating  as  if 
he  were  deaf  and  dumb. 


:  -y'M 


■tx 


m 


^^ 


102 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


"  Micmac,"  said  the  Indian  at  my  elbow.  "  He 
Micmac  and  PepperrelPs  friend.'' 

"  I  should  much  doubt  it,"  said  I.  "  Why  does 
he  raise  his  hands  to  the  sky  I" 

"  That  means  peace.  See !  Now  he  says  come 
near.'' 

That  this  was  the  case  seemed  evident  from  Joe's 
walking  straight  up  to  the  stranger,  who  again  be- 
gan to  gesticulate. 

I  followed,  and  soon  discovered  that  the  Micmac 
so  strangely  met  with  was  the  leader  of  the  band 
who  had  attacked  the  French  at  St.  Peter's. 

The  Micmac  took  no  notice  of  the  Indians  who 
passed  him,  but  continued  his  manual  conversation 
with  Joe. 

I  had  never  seen  the  sign  language  before,  but 
now  I  watched  it  carefully,  and  I  was  amazed  at 
the  many  gestures.  The  Indians  who  know  not 
each  other's  dialects  can  in  this  mechanical  lan- 
guage converse  readily. 

Colonel  Vaughan  was  soon  on  the  scene. 

"  Who  is  this?"  he  asked. 

"  The  Cormorant,  a  chief  of  the  Micmacs,"  said  Joe. 


If 


THE  BATTERY. 


103 


"  What  docs  he  want  ? " 

"  He  is  enemy  to  Le  Loutre.'' 

"AYhy  has  he  come?'' 

"  To  give  news.'' 

The  Micmae,  who  could  not  or  would  not  speak 
a  word  of  English,  or  French,  or  Passamaquoddy, 
looked  at  Joe  and  gesticulated  slowly  and  seriously. 

Ho  struck  the  back  of  his  right  foot  against  his 
left  palm;  then  he  opened  his  hands,  and  holding 
the  fingers  spread  and  horizontal,  he  placed  the 
ends  of  the  right  fingers  behind  and  against  the 
ends  of  the  left ;  then  he  separated  them  and  moved 
them  back  and  described  a  semicircle  with  each  and 
brought  their  bases  together.  And  then  he  pointed 
with  his  right  hand  into  the  wood. 

Joe  turned  to  the  colonel. 

"  There  is  a  fort  on  our  left,"  he  said. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Tarling.  "  That  is  the  Grand 
Battery — what  about  it  ?  " 

The  Micmae  made  further  play  with  his  fingers. 

"  The  French  have  run  away  from  it ! "  said 
Joe. 

"  Nonsense ! "  said  Vaughan.    "  This  is  a  trap ! 


■'[i 


if 


HcU'\ 


m 


.;,  ^1. 


■.'v.'tti 


li     ! 


i 


:    il 


ii     i 
il     I 


I!    i 


104 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


But  halt  tho  men,  and  let  us  find  out  what  this  fel- 
low has  to  say.'' 

Joe  gesticulated,  evidently  in  search  of  further 
information. 

The  Micmac  solemnly  stepped  back  so  as  to  be 
seen  by  all,  and  with  his  hands  alone  delivered  an 
address,  "^vhich  was  interpreted  by  Joe,  phrase  by 
phrase,  as  follows : 

"  English  from  camp  to  great  fortress  came,  then 
to  gate  on  the  west ;  cheered  three  times ;  into  woods 
went  out  of  sight ;  marched  with  care ;  river  crossed ; 
harbor  reached;  houses,  three  burned;  fire-water, 
rope,  tar ;  fire  great ;  French  think  English  coming ; 
out  of  fort  on  hill  run ;  flag  flying  only  left." 

"  How  d-  ;es  he  know  all  that ! "  asked  Yaughan. 

The  Micmac  was  now  in  the  centre  of  a  wide 
circle  of  that  strange  gathering  of  volunteers.  Seem- 
ingly taking  no  notice  of  them,  he  continued  his 
manual  talk  with  Joe. 

"  The  strong  place  on  the  hill,"  said  Joe  slowly, 
as  he  interpreted,  "  is  to  the  left,  not  far  past  that 
small  tree:  in  line  with  the  tree  with  black  patch 
on  the  bark." 


THE  BATTERY. 


105 


"  That  is  about  right,"  said  Vaughau.     "  WeU  ? " 

Tho  Micmac  worked  his  hands  about  a  little,  aud 
closed  and  extended  tho  fingers  and  thumbs  of  both 
hands  twice ;  then  he  shut  down  his  right  thumb 
and  finger  and  held  out  his  hands ;  then  he  passed 
his  hands  quickly  one  over  the  other,  and  darted  a 
finger  downward.  Here  Joe  htopi)ed  him;  ho  had 
been  following  him,  phrase  by  phrase  as  before,  but 
this  last  gesture  was  a  puzzler. 

"  Fort  has  guns  large,  twice  ten  and  eight ;  guns 
smaller,  two ;  they  are  all — I  do  not  know —  " 

And  Joe  rapidly  gesticulated  that  he  did  not 
understand. 

The  Micmac  repeated  the  gesture  with  elaborate 
emphasis. 

"  What  is  that ! "  asked  Joe.  "  Do  French  nail 
up  guns  ? " 

"  Spike  them ! "  said  Tarling. 

"  Right,"  said  Colonel  Vaughan.    "  Go  on,  Joe." 

"Shot  in  plenty;  well,  shot  down  the  well; 
French  all  run ;  flag  flying ;  no  men ;  no  trap ;  take 
the  fort ;  the  Cormorant  will  show  the  way." 

The  Micmac  closed  his  fists,  placed  the  left  one 


ri 


1  t" 


Si 


m 


^. 


106 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


1  iiiii 


wi  m 


m 


If 

MSI 


M'i 


'  i  ui 


■1' 

ill  \ 

1 

1 

^^H^H 

1  i 

r       ^ 

ii      ' 
II      1 

^^^Hi 

1 

1              J 

1       1 
i 

1 

near  liis  breast,  and  moved  the  right  one  over  the 
left  towards  the  left  side. 

"  The  Cormorant  is  a  brave  man,**  said  Joe. 

The  Micmac  held  out  his  hand  flat,  with  the 
back  upward,  and  solemnly  described  a  horizontal 
curve  outward. 

"  And  a  good  one,"  said  Joe. 

Then  there  was  another  wave  of  the  hands,  end- 
ing in  what  was  very  like  a  snap  of  the  fingers. 

"  He  will  not  lead  you  astray." 

There  was  a  more  elaborate  spell  of  pantomime. 

"  The  French  are  his  enemies,  the  English  are 
his  friends,"  said  Joe. 

*^  We  will  try  him,"  said  Yaughan. 

"  Walk  warily,"  said  Captain  Ardyne. 

*'  Lead  on !  I'll  follow  thee !  "  said  the  ensign 
to  the  Cormorant. 

Straight  as  a  line  he  led  us  through  the  forest, 
and  brought  us  out  on  to  a  hill,  from  which  we 
could  see  the  Grand  Battery  on  the  shore,  with  the 
white  flag  of  France  rippling  its  lilies  over  the  battle- 
ments. Not  a  man  was  visible  in  either  of  the  two 
towers,  at  the  barrack  windows,  or  on  the  ramparts. 


THE  BATTEEY. 


107 


There  was  another  interchange  of  manual  pan- 
tomhne,  and  the  Micmac  led  the  way  down  the  hill 
to  the  fort.  There  was  no  sound  save  that  of  our 
footsteps.  Following  the  Micmac  were  Tarling, 
Vaughan,  Captain  Ardyne,  Joe,  and  eight  others. 
The  Micmac  did  not  hesitate  for  a  moment,  but 
walked  boldly  to  the  gate,  which  was  found  to  be 
locked. 

There  was  another  gesticulatory  interlude,  in 
which  I  saw  I  was  in  some  way  concerned. 

Joe  interpreted — "  Indian  will  lift  the  boy  on  his 
shoulder  to  top  of  wall." 

Without  a  thought  of  the  risk  I  was  running,  I 
went  up  to  the  Micmac,  who  tucked  in  his  head  as 
if  playing  leap-frog  and  "  gave  me  a  back.'' 

I  clambered  on  to  tht  Indian's  shoulders,  and 
was  carried  by  him  a  little  way  along  the  wall  round 
to  the  front. 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  when  I  heard  no  sound 
from  the  others,  I  began  to  feel  afraid ;  and  I  could 
hear  my  heart  beat ;  and  my  knees  seemed  to  be- 
come tied  together.  But  when  I  touched  the  wall 
I  was  all  right  again. 


■J 


:    I    1 

^<  -J 


m 


mi   i   ]>'i» 


■  V  ,-«i-«j 


«" 


i    ! 


108 


englishman's  ha\t:n. 


Hi 


::*: 


i,llll: 


;:l 


The  Cormorant  placed  his  right  palm  downward 
on  his  shoulder  and  I  stepped  on  to  it.  And  I  saw 
the  colonel  looking  about  in  search  of  the  hidden 
enemy.  But  I  had  no  fear  as  the  powerful  Micmac 
straightened  his  arms  and  lifted  me  well  within 
reach  of  the  embrasure. 

I  scrambled  in. 

The  fort  was  deserted,  as  the  Micmac  had  said. 
The  garrison  had  been  so  frightened  at  the  sight  of 
the  burning  warehouses,  that,  supposing  the  whole 
New  England  army  was  attacking  them,  they  had 
in  a  panic  spiked  their  guns,  thrown  the  ammuni- 
tion down  a  well,  and  fled  for  their  lives.  Running 
to  the  gate  I  slipped  back  its  bar  and  opened  it,  and 
in  >'ushed  Colonel  Vaughan  and  his  men. 

\re  found  twenty-eight  forty-two-pounders,  and 
two  eighteen-pounders,  and  three  hundred  and 
eighty  shells,  a  great  quantity  of  shot,  and  many 
odds  and  ends.  The  French  had  spiked  the  guns, 
but  forgotten  to  break  the  trunnions  and  the  car- 
riages ;  and  Major  Pomeroy,  who  was  a  gunsmith 
by  trade,  soon  had  the  guns  ready  for  action,  so 
that  we  pounded  Louisbourg  with  its  own  cannon. 


11  iif!; 


;--^'    2;-..            ^ 

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*■  f  -  .■  ^ 

mi 

^^ 

*Mm^  ■    ^   ^^ 

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^n 

J% 

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fx 

I4. 


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■1I 


'Hi' 


/  scrnnihli'd  in. 


frM 


i 


THE  BATTERY. 


109 


1 


m 


In  their  joy  at  their  success  the  men  forgot  all 
about  the  Micmac.  When  Colouel  Vaughan  thought 
of  him  to  reward  him,  he  was  gone. 

Vaughan  marched  in  all  his  men,  and  I,  who  liad 
some  nautical  experience,  was  sent  to  shin  up  the 
flag-staff  and  cut  down  the  French  flag. 

What  was  to  be  put  in  its  place?  Colonel 
Vaughan  had  no  flag  with  him. 

"  I  will  tell  you  something  in  which  you  might 
oblige  us,  Mr.  Tarling,"  said  he.  "If  you  could 
spare  us  that  bright  red  coat  of  yours  it  would  do 
very  well  for  a  time.    What  say  you  I " 

Tarling  laughed  and  took  off  his  coat.  And 
with  it  in  my  teeth  I  again  shinned  up  the  pole,  and 
tied  it  to  it  by  the  sleeves.  Stiffly  it  blew  out,  red 
side  towards  the  French. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  when  General  Pepperrell,  in 
the  camp,  was  astonished  to  receive  this  note  from 
our  colonel : 

"  I  have  entered  the  Grand  Battery,  and  am 
waiting  for  reinforcement  and  a  flag." 

The  reinforcement  and  the  flag  were  sent. 

As  Tarling  resumed  his  coat  after  it  was  re- 


I.   4\^ 

I,-       ■J';' 
i,        ^■. 


1 1 


110 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


moved  from  the  flag-staff,  he  said  to  Captain 
Ardyne : 

"  Well,  sir,  and  what  do  you  think  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Whitefield  and  his  walls  of  Jericho  now  ? " 

And  the  same  question  was  triumphantly  asked 
and  answered  by  Parson  Moody  when  on  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday  he  preached  in  the  Grand  Battery 
the  first  Protestant  sermon  heard  in  Cape  Breton, 
taking  for  his  text:  "Enter  into  His  gates  with 
thanksgiving  and  into  His  coui'ts  with  praise." 


CHAPTER  IX. 


III 


THE  TRIUMPH. 


^^. 


UCH  of  my  log-book  regarding  this  Louis- 


bourg 


'ned  with  the  str; 


siege  IS  concernea  witn  me  strange 
^i)^  way  in  which  the  besiegers  amused  them- 
selves. Such  a  mixture  of  reckless  audacity, 
pious  enthusiasm,  and  exuberant  boyishness  I  have 
never  since  read  of  as  was  there  daily  displayed. 
But  of  this  more  anon. 

The  first  night  our  men  worked  hard  dragging 
the  guns  and  ammunition  on  sledges  up  to  the 
fascine  battery.  I  went  with  them,  and,  like  them, 
was  over  my  knees  in  the  mud. 

The  French  did  not  expect  us  to  go  that  way. 
The  gi'ound,  if  I  may  call  it  ground,  was  rough  and 
brambly,  and  no  better  than  a  bog,  or  swamp,  as  we 
call  it,  being  a  greasy  clay  charged  with  water.  To 
drag  the  heavily  laden  sledges  over  this  in  the  dark 
required  twelve  or  fourteen  men  to  a  sledge,  besides 


f  'U 


k-  it 


;(■<■ 


>itij 


112 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


!  ':'il 


!; 


■■  ; 


the  boys  like  me  who  were  holding  the  lanterns. 
And  the  bog,  after  one  or  two  sledges  had  passed, 
was  churned  into  black  soft-soap,  very  difficult  to 
deal  with  in  the  night-time.  Many  of  the  sledges 
tilted  and  stuck,  and  had  to  be  lifted  before  they 
could  be  started  again.  Many  of  the  men  slipped 
right  down.  I  saw  one  sink  in  up  to  his  arm-pits, 
and  he  was  rescued  with  difficulty.  We  strewed 
brushwood,  of  which  there  was  plenty,  over  the 
bog,  and  at  the  battery  we  made  fascines  and  hur- 
dles of  it. 

This  was  the  first  battery ;  it  was  on  a  hill  fifteen 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  west  gate. 

The  general  had  neither  enough  men  nor  guns 
to  cannonade  the  city  all  round  with,  so  he  decided 
to  pound  the  walls  on  the  western  side,  the  most 
northerly  post  being  the  Grand  Battery,  and  the 
most  southerly  one  this  Green  Hill  Battery;  and 
the  French  were  astonished  at  his  presumption. 

The  French  were  probably  more  astonished  when 
a  day  or  two  afterwards,  after  more  dragging  of 
guns  at  night  through  morasses  and  weaving  of 
brushwood  into  fascines,  another  battery  opened  on 


THE  TRIUMPH. 


113 


them  six  hundred  yards  nearer,  which  proved  the 
most  dangerous  of  any,  sending  its  balls  against  the 
barracks  and  into  the  town,  where  they  traversed 
the  streets  from  end  to  end  and  passed  through  the 
houses.  And  before  we  had  been  on  shore  a  week 
we  had  another  battery  hammering  away  within  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  wall,  and  covering  the  men 
at  work  on  another  battery  within  two  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  of  the  gate. 

"It  is  against  all  the  rules  of  the  art  of  war," 
said  Bastide,  the  engineer,  who  arrived  about  this 
time. 

"  Art  of  war ! "  said  Colonel  Yaughan — "  the  art 
of  war,  as  I  understand  it,  is  to  beat  your  enemy ! " 

"But  you  should  approach  the  works,  so,  and 
so,"  and  Bastide  drew  a  few  zigzags  on  paper. 

"That  is  the  art  of  zigzag,"  said  Vaughan, 
"  which  the  fortress  was  built  to  puzzle.  There  is 
no  reason  why  we  should  oblige  the  Frenchman  by 
playing  according  to  the  rules  of  his  game.  We 
can  play  another  game.  If  we  do  not  give  him  zig- 
zags, but  go  at  him  straight,  he  will  not  know  what 

to  make  of  us." 
8 


\l  r,^^^ 


::i 


V\ 


'■i!Ji^!) 


f.l  f> 


114 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


! 


I 


I         I 


I   i 


:   M: 


And  I  do  not  think  lie  did.  In  fact,  notwith- 
standing all  the  ruin  we  caused  him,  I  do  not  think 
ho  ever  took  our  attack  seriously.  I  learned  after- 
wards that  our  whole  proceedings  were  supposed  to 
show  audacious  ignorance  of  all  the  proprieties. 

Such  an  army,  I  cannot  help  saying  again,  was 
never  seen,  even  by  a  Frenchman.  We  were  most 
in  uniform  when  we  were  in  our  shirt-sleeves,  or 
covered  with  mud.  And  such  a  cannonade  from  so 
few  pieces  would  in  these  days  be  deemed  impos- 
sible. 

"  Keep  the  guns  going,"  were  the  orders,  and  the 
men  worked  them  in  fury,  only  resting  when  the 
piece  was  too  hot  to  be  loaded. 

One  day  a  gun  split  in  the  Grand  Battery  where 
I  had  gone  with  Tarling. 

"  Split  the  lot,"  said  Captain  Bradstreet,  "  we 
shall  not  want  them  long." 

"  But  don't  be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry,"  said  Mr. 
Richard  Gridley,  who  was  chief  of  the  artillery. 
And,  by  the  way,  as  I  am  rewriting  this  I  cannot 
help  remarking  that  Captain  Bradstreet  was  the 
afterwards  unfortunate  man  of  that  name;    and 


ii:i 


THE  TRIUMPH. 


115 


long-headed  Gridley  was  the  nuiii  wlio  planned  the 
redoubt  on  Bunker's  Hill,  from  which  we  had  to 
drive  the  Americans  with  so  much  trouble  on  a 
celebrated  occasion. 

The  guns  were  kept  going  all  day,  and  every 
day,  except  one.  That  was  the  31st  of  May,  which 
was  a  day  without  daylight.  On  that  morning  I 
had  to  be  awakened  in  what  I  thought  was  the 
middle  of  the  night.  Just  before  daybreak  a  fog 
had  come  rolling  up  from  off  the  sea ;  and  so  thick 
did  it  get  that  no  man  could  see  a  yard  around  him. 
In  that  cold,  pearly  mist  it  seemed  as  though  each 
of  us  was  alone  in  a  world  of  dreams.  Sight  failed 
us  and  sound  failed  us ;  the  lanterns  were  useless, 
and  even  the  gun  flashes  could  not  be  seen  two 
yards  away ;  and  much  to  our  discontent  the  firing 
had  to  be  abandoned. 

In  darkness  and  silence  the  day  passed  into  the 
night — a  horrible  day,  of  which  I  have  never  lost 
the  recollection.  We  were  all  on  the  alert  for  a 
sortie,  for  if  ever  the  French  had  a  chance  they  had 
it  then.  Fortunately  for  us,  the  fog  was  in  the 
city  as  well  as  in  the  camp,  and  Duchambon  was.  as 


I:  'f 


ihM 


■vA 


i  ■■  'lift 


•i.:.[l 


it       -  }i 


116 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


I  il 


■■■r    1 


,1  fi    :i 


ii    f  li 


unprepared  as  wo  were  for  the  visitation.  His  guns 
also  stopped — in  fact,  they  stopped  first — and  the 
deathUke  stillness  lasted  until  midnight,  when  the 
fog  rolled  up  like  a  curtain  and  vanished ;  and  the 
cannonade  began  in  the  bright,  starlit  morning. 
There  had  been  no  change  in  our  positions.  Noth- 
ing had  been  done,  for  both  sides  had  taken  a  day's 
rest  in  the  fog.  ^Yith  that  one  exception,  we  had 
one  long  spell  of  fine  weather,  and  it  was  strange 
that  in  so  good  a  light  the  enemy  did  so  little  dam- 
age. We  were  most  favored  by  fortune.  Their 
balls  fell  short,  or  went  over,  and  stuck  in  the  bog, 
either  before  or  behind  us.  One  or  two  would 
pitch  into  the  batteries  every  now  and  then,  but 
they  would  almost  invariably  hop  out  again,  and 
then  hop  further,  if  they  struck  on  hard  ground,  so 
that  although  there  were  very  many  shaves  there 
were  few  hits.  Every  shot  of  ours  plumped  into 
the  wall  or  over  it  into  the  town. 

But  it  was  when  the  men  were  off  duty  that  I 
enjoyed  myself.  It  was  indeed  a  delightful  time. 
We  had  games  of  strength  and  skill  and  speed  every 
day.    Om's  was  a  front  of  battle  and  a  rear  of  frolic. 


\u  I 


m- 


I   ! 


^ 


THE  Tnrrirrn. 


117 


Tho  seamen  of  the  transports  joined  in  the  skylark- 
ing. There  were  flat  races,  and  steeplechases,  and 
jumping  in  sacks;  and  wrestling  and  pitching 
quoits,  and  a  noisy  development  of  scrambles,  in 
which  the  men  all  stood  in  a  lino  and  skurried  after 
the  hopping  shot  from  tho  enemy's  guns.  One  day 
we  had  much  sport  at  kicking  a  bladder  about  till 
it  burst,  when  we  blew  out  another,  which  endured 
the  rough  treatment  for  two  hours.  Next  day  the 
Indians  played  hockey  or  shinty,  as  we  used  to  call 
it.  The  Indians  call  hockey  la  crosse^  which  is  the 
French  name  for  it.  Doubtless  the  French  brought 
the  game  to  Canada. 

In  fact,  we  felt  so  sure  we  were  going  to  win 
that  we  actually  worked  in  watches,  half  the  men 
on  duty  and  half  off,  the  half  off  being  allowed  to 
go  anywhere  they  pleased,  provided  they  were  at 
their  posts  when  the  bugle  called.  One  morning 
Tarling  got  leave  from  his  colonel  for  the  day ;  and 
off  he  and  I  went,  fulh'  persuaded  we  were  going  to 
do  something  remarkable.  It  is  a  good  many  years 
ago  now — I  am  getting  on  well  into  the  sixties, 
though  I  do  not  intend  to  be  old  for  another  twenty 


It-.      '^  1 


\ 


ill 


1.1 . 


it 


1% 


V:     I 


!    i 


!  ( 


1- 


•    !  I 


118 


ENGLISHMAN  S   HAVEN. 


years — and  as  I  write  this,  looking  out  from  Point 
Pleasant  over  the  beautiful  harbor,  I  can  hear  Tar- 
ling's  laugh,  as,  when  firing  at  the  first  bird  we  came 
across,  the  flint  of  my  pistol  flew  into  a  dozen 
pieces. 

"  I  have  another,"  said  he,  dipping  his  hand  into 
the  pocket  of  the  short  blue  coat  he  was  wearing 
instead  of  his  uniform,  which  he  had  left  in  his  hut. 
"  Let  me  fit  it." 

And  he  did,  while  the  bird  kept  his  eye  on  us 
and  took  much  interest  in  our  proceedings. 

"  Shall  I  have  the  shot  or  you  I " 

"  Oh,  you  can,  if  you  like." 

"  Tchick ! " 

That  was  all.  And  there  stood  the  bird,  as  quiet 
as  ever,  for  number  two  flint  had  gone  to  bits  like 
number  one.    It  was  my  turn  to  laugh  now. 

But  when  number  three  flint  behaved  like  the 
others,  and  the  bird  still  kept  his  eye  on  us,  it  be- 
came no  laughing  matter. 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  these  flints  ?  "  I  asked. 
''  Where  did  you  get  them  from  f " 

"  Old  Brown  gave  them  to  me  out  of  the  pack- 


'^i 


THE  TRIUMPH. 


119 


age,  the  one  I  was  telling  you  of — that  with  the 
writing  on  it." 

"  What ! "  said  I.  "  Do  you  mean  that  pious 
^  ^air,  with  *  For  the  service  of  the  Lord,  the  giver 
♦laving  no  further  use  for  them:  with  these  shalt 
thou  smite  the  Philistines ' ! " 

"  That's  it ! ''  said  Tarling.  "  But,  I  say !  Per- 
haps that  bird  is  not  a  Philistine !  " 

The  bird  looked  at  us  with  his  other  eye. 

"Let  us  have  another  of  those  anti-Philistine 
flints,"  said  I. 

And  we  did.  But  when  I  raised  the  pistol  to 
fire,  the  bird  had  vanished. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Tarling.  "  You  have  got 
rid  of  three  bad  flints  and  saved  the  shot." 

"  But  if  the  fourth  is  as  bad  ? " 

"  Come  on.    We  must  chance  that." 

It  was  a  fortunate  thing  for  us  ihat  these  flints 
had  gone  wrong ;  for  the  report  of  the  pistol  would 
have  probably  lost  us  our  lives. 

Skirting  the  woodland  track,  we  had  walked  a 
few  minutes  in  silence,  when  Tarling  whispered  to 
me  to  look  at  something  moving  among  the  trees  a 


0 


Ir-^?. 


PW 


m 


120 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


mv- 


!l  i 


l>   ; 


i 


little  ahead  of  us.  It  was  an  Indian,  evidently  re- 
turning from  a  voyage  of  discovery. 

"  Let  us  follow  that  fellow,"  said  Tarling. 

And  we  did — for  about  half  an  hour.  He  then 
struck  off  at  a  right  angle,  and  in  a  few  yards  we 
marked  him  down  into  a  low,  leafy  bush  by  the  side 
of  a  stream. 

We  watched  this  bush  for  a  little,  and  then  ap- 
proached near  enough  to  hear  two  or  three  voices. 
Soon  the  Indian  we  had  followed  came  out  and 
looked  around,  and  then  went  down  the  stream  and 
forded  it,  and  made  his  way  up  the  hillside  to  the 
northward. 

When  he  was  out  of  sight  over  the  hill,  we 
moved  up  closer  and  found  the  bush  to  be  on  the 
edge  of  a  sort  of  pit,  in  which  there  seemed  to  be 
two  men,  very  pleased  with  themselves. 

"  How  many  are  there  ? "  I  asked,  to  make  sure. 

"  Two." 

"  There  may  be  a  silent  member." 

"  Not  if  they  are  French,"  said  Tarling. 

"  Let  us  .^et  up  to  the  bush." 

We  did,  and  listened. 


r  I 


Mil 


m 


THE  TRIUMPH. 


121 


ii 


But 


"  Formez  votre  bouehe ! "  said  a  voice. 

"  Shut  your  mouth,"  translated  Tarling. 

"  All  right,  I  know,"  said  I. 

"  Cert  drole !  "  said  another  voice. 

"Isn't    it   funny!"  whispered    Tarling. 
what  is  it  all  about  ? " 

"  Cannot  you  crane  over  that  branch  ? " 

Tarling  cautiously  peeped  over. 

"  Ma  foi !  "  said  the  first  voice.    "  You  rub  hard ! " 

"  It  is  necessary  that  it  should  be  smooth  and 
even,"  said  the  other  voice. 

"  Ah-h-h ! " 

Evidently  the  rubbing  was  over. 

"  And  now,  in  my  turn !  "  said  the  first  voice. 

"  Felix,"  whispered  Tarling,  looking  down  at  me. 

"  What  ? " 

"  Here's  a  game.  Here  are  two  Frenchies  get- 
ting themselves  up  as  Indians.  You  can  look  over 
there.  They  cannot  see  you.  One  fellow  is  paint- 
ing the  nape  of  the  other  fellow's  neck,  and  their 
backs  are  towards  us." 

"  Never ! " 

I  rose  very  carefully  and  looked  over  the  bushes. 


r>^li 


V     ',T 


■1     1 


!-i .' 


I 


i 

■i't 

liil 


122 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


Below  US  were  two  men  stripped  to  the  waist,  one 
of  whom  had  been  painted  brown,  and  was  indus- 
triously daubing  over  the  other. 

"  What  does  it  mean  ? "  I  said. 

"  Cannot  you  see  ?  It  is  a  disguise.  They  are 
sham  Indians.    That  is  the  game." 

"  The  color,  it  is  too  flat,"  said  the  stoutest  of 
the  Frenchmen,  critically ;  "it  is  necessary  that  it 
should  shine." 

"  We  will  grease  it,  then,  Alphonse." 

And  taking  up  a  lump  of  fat,  he  proceeded 
to  give  Alphonse  the  required  gloss.  When  he 
had  done  so,  and  wiped  his  fingers  on  his  own 
shoulders,  Alphonse  returned  the  compliment. 

"  Ah !  It  will  not  do,  Jules,  not  yet,"  said 
Alphonse.    "  We  are  too  clean ! " 

And  he  picked  up  a  handful  of  dirt  and  began  to 
rub  it  over  Jules,  while  Jules  did  the  same  for  him. 

"  The  neck  should  be  dirty ! "  said  Jules. 

"  And  the  cheek — not  clean !  "  said  Alphonse. 

"  And  the  nose ! "  said  Jules,  beginning  to  laugh, 
as  he  gave  his  friend  a  daub  down  the  bridge.  "  It 
is  superb ! " 


THE  TEIUMPH. 


123 


"  Magnificent !  "  said  Alphonse,  leaning  back  and 
rejoicing  in  his  handiwork. 

And  Jules  also  leaned  back ;  and  the  two  great, 
ugly  fellows  laughed  merrily  at  each  other. 

"  Fifth  of  November ! "  whispered  Tarling. 

If  the  Frenchmen  had  not  been  laughing  they 
would  have  heard  me  laugh. 

"  S-s-sh !  "  said  Tarling. 

'^  And  now  for  the  marks ! "  said  Alphonse. 

And  from  the  back  of  the  pit,  where  their  guns 
and  clothes  were,  he  fetched  a  little  bag  with  some 
bright  red  powder  in  it,  which  he  worked  up  into  a 
paste,  while  Jules  employed  himself  in  mixing  some 
grease  and  gunpowder  in  the  same  way. 

"  The  blue  first ! "  said  Jules. 

"  No,  together !  "  said  Alphonse. 

"A  dot!"  said  Jules,  dabbing  his  finger  on 
Alphonse's  forehead. 

"A  line!"  said  Alphonse,  drawing  his  thumb 
down  Jules's  cheek. 

"  A  little  straight ! " 

"  A  curve ! " 

"  Comme-ga ! " 


I  Ml 


>?I  I 


ht 


ill     ^\: 


:  . 

1 

'1' 

■■il   1 
''     1 

t 

J 

1 
1 

■  -  i 

\  • 

. ;  ■  3 

1      '      '!l 

1            "i' 

i     :''^!i| 

ills 

m 

1 

124 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


"  Perfect ! " 

"  In  crescent ! " 

"  Voyage  in  zigzag ! " 

"  Peste !  that  is  too  mncli !  '^ 

"  Change  colors !  '^ 

And  they  did ;  and  while  Alphonse  laid  in  the 
blue  among  the  red  marks,  Jules  filled  in  the  red 
among  the  blue  ones.  The  next  step  would  prob- 
ably have  been  the  sticking  on  of  the  feathers.  But, 
unfortunately,  this  peaceful  amusement  of  mutual 
decoration  came  to  a  sudden  end. 

As  Jules  was  streaking  down  Alphonse's  nose, 
Alphonse  gave  a  great  yawn.  The  temptation  was 
irresistible,  and  Jules  popped  his  dirty  red  finger 
into  his  comrade's  mouth.  The  liberty  was  promptly 
avenged  by  a  sounding  box  on  the  ear.  Up  jumped 
Jules,  up  jumped  Alphonse,  snarling  like  a  couple 
of  cats. 

"  Pardon ! "  said  Jules. 

"Ah!  I  will  pardon  you!"  said  the  angry 
Alphonse,  spluttering  the  dirty  red  stuff  out  of  his 
mouth.  And  he  rushed  at  Jules,  who  ran  away  down 
the  side  of  the  stream,  with  his  decorator  after  him. 


THE  TKIUMPH. 


125 


"Would  you  call  tliose  fellows  Philistines  I " 
asked  Tarling  quietly. 

"Yes,"  said  I;  "but  if  we  got  their  guns  we 
should  be  doubly  sure." 

The  Frenchmen  had  disappeared  round  a  clump 
about  fifty  yards  off,  and  from  the  scuffling  we 
could  hear  it  was  evident  that  they  were  marking 
each  other  in  blue  and  black  instead  of  blue  and  red. 

"  Good ! "  said  Tarling.     "  Down,  and  at  them ! " 

In  a  few  seconds  we  were  in  the  pit,  and  in  pos- 
session of  the  guns  and  ammunition,  while  Jules 
and  Alphonse  were  proceeding  with  their  decoration. 

"What  shall  we  do!"  asked  Tarling.  "Leave 
them  ? " 

"  I  think  so.  "We  can  hardly  manage  two  men. 
Let  us  get  off  with  these  things  and  make  sure  of 
them ! "  ♦ 

And  off  we  slipped,  while  Jules  and  his  friend 
were  knocking  themselves  back  into  friendliness. 

What  they  said  when  they  found  their  weapons 
gone,  I  can  imagine,  but  there  is  no  need  for  me  to 
wi'ite  it. 

We  ought  to  have  captured  them,  I  have  been 


N  *.»j 


Mm 

mm 


■  ,1  ■!        ■■(- 


■      W: 


!li|]lM(*E;l 


MP 


■  M 


■  ■■'■•'  v-'i 


I  Jii 


l^ 


^m 


■\lf 


'  'I 


Hi 


|):|l 


^2. 


Wi  i 


'I 

1    il'i 


ill' 


^i  II 


mi 


126 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


told,  but  with  our  anti-Philistine  flints  we  dared 
not  attempt  it ;  and  even  if  we  could  have  caught 
them  and  brought  them  back  in  triumph,  we  should 
have  been  sorry  to  have  done  so,  for  really  we  had 
rather  taken  a  fancy  to  the  scoundrels.  For  our 
own  protection  we  had  to  make  sure  of  the  guns — 
and  very  good  guns  they  proved  to  be. 

Nearly  every  week  the  men  would  go  out  in 
shooting  parties  like  this,  not  at  the  French,  but  at 
the  birds.  In  order  to  keep  their  hands  in,  they 
also  practised  at  mark  shooting  for  sweepstakes. 
And  in  short,  off  duty  time  was  spent  as  a  general 
holiday,  and  in  all  the  fine  weather,  beyond  the  noise 
of  the  firing,  there  was  nothing  to  show  we  were 
engaged  in  a  desperate  siege. 

Allied  with  all  this  recreation  there  was  much 
observance  of  religious  duties.  Every  regiment  had 
its  chaplain,  and  there  were  several  chaplains  at 
large,  all  being  under  the  advising  control  of  Mr. 
Moody,  of  York,  Mrs.  PepperrelPs  uncle,  a  pictur- 
esque, white-haired  old  man  of  great  worth  and 
humor,  but  peculiarly  quick-tempered  and  prone  to 
be  prolix. 


THE  TRIUMPH. 

men  goinj?  off  dnf v  if  ^'''°'''  "^  tho 

">e  Lord,  and  serve  the  g„„,„    ^^ZZ' 
-ould  begin  to  shoot.    AnTZ  "  *''^ 

-ould  give  thanks  for  tte^  !  "  '""°  "'^  ''"*>' 
to  be  alWod  to  serve  a  g!  ,^17"°"  '-''  ^^^ 
tlie  morrow.  ^  '""""^  *«"'Ke  on 

the  French.  ^^''''^'  ''^^''^i"st 

A  remarkable  armv  w^a  ^ 

cixiiiy    was   ours     nnri    fl,^ 

«a-aying  that  its  luek  was  marvlCs  '^  '^^ 

^ne  day  a  scout  found  tl,;,.f, 
under  water,  near  theT  "^  ''""'"  ^'''''<^" 

«-  fortress,  whlupo;"^:'"""'^  ^^"''^  °PPo-te 
under  a  fierce  iirer.  ''""'  "''''  ^'''"'  »P 

--t  .igr,::;:^'^:^  ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

into  Louisbourg.  '         """'"^  ^"^^  P°«»di„g 

Occasionally  the  French  would  <■ 

^ith  the  direst  results      nTT     '  "  """'  ''"* 

esults.     Nearly  every  time  they 


^-1  i.i 
I) 


K!'  i 


I  ll 


128 


englishman's  haven. 


were  siglited  at  the  start,  and  the  besiegers  came 
flying  at  tliem  as  if  after  hopping  shot,  and  simply 
tumbled  them  back  behind  the  walls. 

A  hundred  bravo  Frenchmen  came  out  the  night 
the  Lighthouse  battery  was  being  raised,  landed  at 
a  cave  a  mile  to  the  eastward,  and  in  the  morning 
made  a  dash  at  the  works  to  meet  with  such  a  re- 
ception  as  killed  half  a  dozen  of  them,  secured  sev- 
eral as  prisoners,  and  drove  the  rest  to  escape  in 
their  shallops. 

A  day  or  two  after  this  the  advanced  battery 
was  armed  with  guns  from  the  Grand  Battery. 
There  was  great  labor  in  dragging  these  guns,  which 
were  two  forty-two-pounders  and  two  eighteen- 
pounders.  Owing  to  the  curve  of  the  shore  the 
men  had  to  drag  them  for  two  miles,  most  of  the 
way  being  under  fire  from  the  town.  In  this  bat- 
tery trenches  had  to  be  dug,  faced  with  a  parapet 
of  earth  and  fascines. 

Mr.  Tarling  said  the  French  would  soon  yield  to 
our  fascination,  which  was  a  fairly  good  jest — for  him. 

He  always  laughed  at  his  own  jokes.  This  time 
he  straightened  himself  to  laugh,  and  overbalancing 


THE  TKIUMPH. 


129 


himself,  fell  backward  into  the  ditch.  At  this  he 
laughed  the  more.  He  had  a  narrow  escape.  Just 
as  he  fell  a  round  shot  swept  past  in  the  line  where 
his  head  had  been. 

"  Lucky  for  you ! "  said  I. 

"  You  now  see  the  advantage  of  a  joke,"  he  said, 
gathering  himself  up. 

"  I  see  the  advantage  of  the  fall  of  the  joker." 

"  The  same  thing.  Where  could  you  get  a  joker 
without  a  joke  ? " 

"Anywhere.  If  these  fellows  were  to  get  the 
range  as  well  as  they  have  done  the  direction,  there 
would  not  be  much  joking  here." 

"  That  I  doubt.  There  is  always  a  laugh  on  the 
winning  side." 

"  Is  all  war  like  this  ? "  I  asked. 

"  Not  that  I  know  of,"  said  he. 

"But  don't  you  know?  Don't  your  brother- 
officers  talk  about  their  campaigns  1 " 

"  They  do  not  touch  on  the  shooting  side  of  the 

question,  as  a  rule :  the  foraging  has  more  interest 

for  them,  as  also  the  habits  and  want  of  morals  of 

the  inhabitants." 
9 


r 


130 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


ill 


V  ! 


ii; ! 


'  ill' 


m 

iii 


"  There  is  not  much  here  of  that.  All  the  inhab- 
itants are  in  the  fortress." 

"  Not  all.  I  expect  an  attack  on  our  lines  before 
we  have  done." 

"Micmacs?" 

"  Perhaps,  or  Canadians." 

"  They  will  fail,  of  course  ?  " 

"I  think  so.  But  Bastide  says  our  defensive 
works  are  as  ridiculous  as  our  offensive  works." 

"  Poor  man !     Does  not  this  battery  suit  him  1 " 

"  If  he  were  at  all  reasonable  it  should  do  so." 

The  first  day  the  battery  opened  it  shot  down 
the  drawbridge  and  part  of  the  wall  close  by. 
Besieged  and  besiegers  were  now  within  range 
of  small  arms,  and  in  the  sharp  musketry  fire 
many  on  each  side  were  killed  or  wounded.  One 
man,  '^ho  had  stood  on  the  parapet  to  aim,  fell, 
pip^  jy  five  bullets.  He  was  carried  past  me 
<  od  with  a  flag.  A  thrill  of  horror  glided 
down  my  back  as  he  passed;  and  yet  I  should 
have  liked  to  have  gone  into  the  advanced  battery 
to  see  what  the  place  was  like,  but  I  was  not 
allowed  within  musket  shot.    We  had  all  become 


r^'^ 


THE  TRIUMPH. 


131 


so  accustomed  to  the  cannonade  that  we  made  no 
account  of  it. 

But  I  must  make  an  end  of  this  siege.  Let  my 
friends  call  up  the  scene  for  themselves.  In  the 
centre,  on  a  craggy  spit  of  land,  surrounded  by  a 
deep,  wide  ditch,  the  many-angled  fortress,  van- 
dyked  with  notched  and  loophooled  walls,  and  in 
shape  an  irregular  seven-pointed  star.  Within  it 
were  two  large  buildings  with  two  tall  church- 
steeples,  and  around  them  were  the  lower  roofs  in 
clustering  ridges  hidden  hero  and  there  by  the 
heavily  drifting  cloud  of  powder-smoke.  Every 
now  and  then,  by  night  and  day,  there  were  bursts 
of  fire  and  explosion  and  ringing  of  bells  and  blar- 
ing of  trumpets;  in  the  hot,  sulphurous  air  the 
women  in  the  streets  could  be  seen  carrying  the 
dying  and  the  suffering;  on  the  banquette  and 
platforms  stood  the  guns  and  the  hard-worked,  hag- 
gard soldiers,  said  to  be  on  the  verge  of  mutiny  and 
really  striving  their  truest  for  their  country's  honor. 

Round  it  all,  over  rampart,  ditch,  and  glacis,  hung 
a  roaring,  crackling  ring  of  fire-flashes.  Behind  it 
lay  the  blue  water,  crowded,  at  a  safe  distance,  with 


B(.     <{' 


\m 


I 


^  k:  Hi 

mm 


tli 


[I  I 

i  !  ■ 


■,!'l 


."till 
'I'M 


'!'!,'! 


J'l! 


;'':':t 


i-s; 


132 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


shipping.  In  front  of  it  was  tlio  strip  of  debatable 
land  over  wliieli  the  balls  and  bullets  crossed  and 
whooed. 

Beyond  that,  on  the  blackened  hillsides,  floated 
a  few  patches  of  powder-cloud,  with  a  broken  line 
of  fitful  whitis  flushed  with  momentary  spurts  of 
flame  from  the  cannon  and  small-arms,  that  spoke 
in  rolling  thunder,  as  they  were  loaded  and  aimed 
by  the  determined  men  who  were  persuaded  of  vic- 
tory and  religiously  regarded  the  ruin  of  the  strong- 
hold and  the  slaughter  of  its  def(}nders  as  "  a  burnt- 
offering  and  grateful  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  of  Zion." 

Beyond  that  strip  of  trench  and  battery  were 
the  white  Osnaburg  tents  and  gi'cen  arbors  of  the 
camp,  with  the  men  at  rest  and  play  among  them. 
And  beyond  that  again  lay  an  extended  line  of 
scouts  and  outposts,  bush-fighting  with  Indians 
and  French  countrymen  and  invariably  keeping 
them  at  bay. 

At  last  the  gan'ison's  provisions  began  to  fail; 
ammunition  ran  short ;  there  was  no  hope  of  help ; 
the  trenches  were  close  to  the  breach.  The  Light- 
house Battery  had  demolished  the  Island  Battery ; 


THE  TRIUMrH. 


133 


Warren's  fleet  was  reinforced  by  the  Newfoundland 
squadron  and  anchored  in  line  off  the  town;  and 
preparations  were  obviously  being  made  for  storm- 
ing in  by  land  and  sea.  And  then  Duchambon,  who 
had  held  his  heart  fairly  all  through,  saw  resistance 
hopeless  and  gave  in.  And  at  two  o'clock  on  the 
17th  of  June  Warren  brought  his  fleet  into  the  har- 
bor; and  at  four  o'clock  Pepperrell,  with  colors 
flying,  bugles  blaring,  and  drums  beating,  marched 
through  the  South  Gate. 

When  we  saw  the  strength  of  the  fortress  wo 
were  amazed.  I  had  no  idea  of  the  hugeness  of  its 
walls  and  earthworks  until  I  was  close  to  them.  I 
had  never  seen  a  fortress  before,  except  in  a  book ; 
and,  from  a  distance,  Louisbourg  looked  so  much 
like  a  toy  that  that  is,  I  believe,  really  the  reason 
why  the  men  pounded  away  at  it  as  if  in  sport,  and 
were  so  light-hearted  in  camp.  In  plans  of  fort- 
resses the  lines  are  so  finely  drawn  as  to  disguise 
the  massiveness ;  and  the  guns  and  necessary  train 
are  not  shown.  Here  were  all  the  things  I  had  read 
about — trenches,  parapets,  cannon,  broken  wheels, 
caissons,  gabions. 


nm 


'.I-: 


il 


mi' 


h  i 


F."  (i 


.»i  1 


.lljll!,'.!. 


lif^        I 


I      > 


134 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


One  thing  struck  us  all.  During  the  siege,  which 
lasted  just  seven  times  seven  days,  the  same  time  the 
army  was  preparing,  the  weather  had  been  fine  and 
diy,  so  as  to  help  us  and  make  camping  quite  enjoy- 
able. But  as  soon  as  we  entered  the  fortress  it  began 
to  rain,  and  it  rained  for  ten  days  without  ceasing. 

The  night  of  our  marching  in  the  general  gave 
a  gi'and  banquet  in  captured  Louisbourg  to  his 
officers  and  prisoners.  At  that  banquet  Parson 
Moody  caused  considerable  anxiety  to  the  younger 
guests.  The  good  parson's  graces  were,  as  a  rule,  so 
lengthy  that  the  meat  got  cold.  What  was  to  bo 
done  ?  All  were  very  hungry,  all  wanted  to  begin 
without  delay,  and  no  one  wanted  the  late  enemies 
who  had  been  invited  to  b')  bored. 

"  Tell  the  parson  to  cut  it  short,"  was  the  sug- 
gestion. But  who  was  to  "tell  the  parson"?  It 
was  as  risky  as  belling  the  cat,  for  the  old  man  was 
unreasonably  irascible.  So  no  one  told  the  parson, 
and  in  terror  Pepperrell's  guests  saw  him  rise  "  to 
crave  the  blessing."  Judge  of  the  general  relief 
when  the  old  man  quietly  observed,  in  that  thrilling 
voice  of  his : 


THE  TKIUMPH. 


135 


"Good  Lord:  we  have  so  many  things  to 
thank  Thee  for,  that  time  will  be  infinitely  too  short 
to  do  it ;  we  must  therefore  leave  it  for  the  work  of 
eternity.  Bless  our  food  and  fellowship  upon  this 
joyful  occasion,  for  the  sake  of  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen." 


m 


If 


II 


m 


1% 


i! 


!  ! 


'il 


?      '■ 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE  SNAKE. 


JHE  next  morning  was  one  of  the  important 
mornings  of  my  life.  General  Pepperrell 
sent  Captain  Bennet  to  Boston  with  the  good 
tidings  in  the  Loo ;  and  Captain  Angel  asked 
my  father  if  he  objected  to  my  joining  the  ship. 
My  father,  finding  there  was  nothing  I  desired  so 
much,  consented,  and  indeed  aiTanged  with  the 
captain,  at  my  request,  for  me  to  be  taught  the  sea- 
faring. My  father  saw  no  harm  in  my  learning  a 
trade,  which  he  said  would  always  be  useful,  and 
which  I  might  at  any  time  resign  if  matters  pros- 
pered with  us.  He  had  conceived  a  great  esteem 
for  Bezek  Angel,  and  considered  it  fortunate  I 
should  have  made  so  honest  and  trustworthy  a 
friend ;  and  I  was  duly  apprenticed  that  morning. 
I  cannot  say  I  have  ever  regretted  it ;  which  is  not 
exactly  what  is  said  by  every  apprentice  to  the 
rough  life  of  a  seaman  in  those  days. 


THE  SNAEE. 


137 


As  we  got  under  way  that  afternoon  I  can 
justly  say  that  never  before  had  I  seen  so  fine  a 
sight ;  and  in  this  my  father  and  Mr.  Tarhng,  who 
had  come  to  see  me  off,  agreed  with  me.  The  har- 
bor was  thick  with  shipping,  and,  though  the  rain 
was  faUing  heavily,  right  well  they  looked.  On  the 
town  the  Cross  of  St.  George  was  flying  at  every 
prominent  point,  and  waving  from  many  of  the 
windows.  Boat-loads  of  the  French  prisoners  were 
being  conveyed  to  the  ships,  over  four  thousand 
men,  women,  and  children  being  taken  aboard  to  be 
kept  in  safety  until,  in  accordance  with  the  terms 
of  capitulation,  transports  could  be  prepared  to  take 
them  to  France — the  transports  which  were  so  scur- 
vily  treated  when  they  arrived  there. 

Scurvily  treated  they  were  indeed !  The  French 
were  so  furious  and  disgusted  at  having  been  de- 
feated by  a  handful  of  New  Englanders  that  they 
claimed  the  transports  as  captured  vessels,  and  ill- 
treated  the  masters  and  crews  in  a  way  that  brought 
a  lasting  disgrace  on  the  French  name.  Some  al- 
lowance should,  however,  be  made  for  King  Louis. 
It  must  have  been  a  very  bitter  pill  to  have  these 


:  ; 


4   i,i^ 


t,'  i    ■'■' 


|. 


V-.  i 


ii, 


Mm 


;l 


138 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


transports  at  Rochelle  unloading  French  colonists 
returned  without  thanks  by  New  England  "  boors  " 
at  the  very  moment  there  was  such  trumpeting  in 
praise  of  Charles  Edward,  who,  as  French  cat's-paw 
— according  to  French  notions — was  making  old 
England  shake  in  the  slippers  of  its  old  age. 

To  resume ; 

There  were  in  the  harbor  eleven  of  the  king's 
men-of-war,  besides  eighty-five  transports,  twenty 
armed  vessels  from  New  England,  and  many  brig- 
antines,  sloops,  and  snows.  And  as  we  passed 
through  them  with  our  colors  flying,  and  saluting, 
they  saluted  us  and  gave  us  much  pleasant  cheering. 

Angel  was  not  long  on  the  voyage.  On  July  3d, 
at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  landed  Captain 
Bennet  on  Boston  quay.  At  sunrise  the  people  were 
roused  in  their  beds  to  hear  the  news.  They  crowded 
into  the  streets  and  cheered ;  and  the  rejoicing  lasted 
all  day  and  finished  with  an  illumination  in  every 
house,  which  was  so  helped  by  bonfires  and  fire- 
works that  the  city  seemed  ablaze — ^when  viewed 
from  the  water.  That  was  all  I  saw  of  it,  for  though 
the  captain  went  ashore,  he  gave  me  something  to 


THE   SNARE. 


139 


do  on  board,  to  keep  me  out  of  mischief,  as  he  can- 
didly told  me  with  one  ot  nis  pleasant  smiles. 

The  rejoicing  was  kept  up  for  days,  and  all  along 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  there  was  much  praising  and 
thanksgiving,  and  more  or  less  pious  jollifying. 
Even  Philadelphia  gave  thanks  for  the  satisfactory 
result  of  that  thoughtful  act  of  charity  in  supplying 
food  for  the  so  much  deserving. 

The  news  went  to  England  in  the  Mermaid^  and 
arrived  there  on  July  20th;  and  when  it  reached 
London  there  was  a  great  saluting  of  park  guns, 
and  illuminating  and  bonfiring,  and  a  donating  of 
five  hundred  guineas  to  Captain  Montague,  of  the 
Mermaid,  a  promoting  of  Warren  to  a  rear-admi- 
ralship,  and  even  a  "  creating "  in  the  person  of 
General  Sir  William  Pepperrell,  Bart.,  colonel  of 
one  of  His  Majesty's  regiments  of  the  line,  and 
Chief -justice  of  the  Common  Pleas  of  Massachusetts, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  business,  wholesale  and  re- 
tail, in  fish,  furs,  and  general  sundries. 

On  the  19th  of  July  the  Loo  was  back  at  Louis- 
bourg. 

As  we  approached  the  harbor  we  saw  the  French 


li'  ~' 


•  t:* 


f<n  .^  ,    [J 


hi 


fi ) 


II- ! 


140 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


flag  flying  on  the  usual  places,  and  in  the  harbor  the 
vessels  had  French  colors.  This  gave  us  great  con- 
cern, and  instead  of  running  straight  in  we  bore  off 
to  reconnoitre. 

The  reconnaissance  did  not  last  long.  The  cap- 
tain decided  to  take  his  chance. 

"  Seems  to  me  to  be  a  ruse ! "  he  said.  "  These 
vessels  are  old  acquaintances.  There  are  too  many 
of  them.  Now,  if  a  French  stranger  or  two  were 
among  them  I  might  fancy  the  French  had  retaken 
the  place.  But  as  it  is  the  thing  is  too  good  to  be 
true." 

And  Angel  was  right.  The  French  flags  had 
been  hoisted  to  decoy  into  the  harbor  any  long- 
voyage  vessel  which  might  not  have  heard  of  the 
change  of  masters,  it  being  then  the  custom  for 
Indiamen  and  other  vessels  to  make  for  Louisbourg 
and  thence  sail  under  convoy  across  the  Atlantic  to 
France. 

And,  in  fact,  it  was  owing  to  this  practice  that 
the  fall  of  Louisbourg  had  the  unlooked-for  result 
of  giving  the  finishing  stroke  to  the  French  East 
India  Company. 


THE  SNAKE. 


141 


At  Louisbourg  a  surprise  awaited  me.  On  en- 
tering my  father's  quarters,  I  was  confronted  by  an 
Indian  woman  dressed  in  almost  European  fashion, 
who  asked  me  whom  I  wanted.  She  spoke  in  broken 
EngHsh  with  a  French  accent.  I  asked  for  Captain 
Ardyne,  and  my  father  immediately  came  out  to  me. 

"Well,  Felix,"  said  the  captain,  "and  who  do 
you  think  the  Micmac  is  ?  '^ 

"MicmacI"  said  I,  looking  at  the  woman,  who 
might  have  been  fifty,  and  had  much  more  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  French  half-breed  than  an  Indian. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  woman,  "Micmac,  that  is  me." 

She  was  stout  and  comely,  and  not  brown  in 
face,  though  darker  than  Europeans ;  and  she  had 
bright,  dark  eyes  and  black  hair,  coarse  and  very 
smooth ;  her  lips  were  thin,  and  her  nose  was  rather 
hooked,  but  her  manner  was  not  unpleasant.  Evi- 
dently she  was  a  superior  kind  of  civilized  Indian. 

"  Surely,"  I  said,  "  it  cannot  be  Eyes-that-weep  ?  " 

"  How  know  you  that  1  Eyes-that-weep,  that  is 
me." 

"  Is  it  true  ? "  I  asked  of  my  father. 

"  I  believe  so ;  but  come  in." 


■A 


il  .%♦ 


S'i^*   >.! 


.« 


142 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


W-   '! 


I      ,1 


.11 


a.  1 


i)« 


m 


i 


m 


i 


ii 


11 


mm 


BiUliISi 

■■    ■,:,ii 


I  entered  the  room,  where  a  new  surprise  awaited 
me. 

"  This  is  Mary  Kervan,"  said  my  father.  "  Mary, 
this  is  my  son." 

I  shook  hands  with  a  very  nice  girl,  younger 
than  myself,  and  I  wondered  who  she  might  be. 

"  Do  you  know  who  Mary  is  1 "  asked  my  father. 

"  No." 

"  Nor  where  she  came  from  ? " 

"  No." 

"  Ask  her." 

"  I  came  from  Chebucto,"  said  Mary. 

"Yes,"  said  Captain  Ardyne.  "The  morning 
you  went  away  I  was  ordered  to  explore  the  case- 
ments in  the  citadel,  and  in  a  corner  of  one  of  them 
I  found  Mary,  very  ill  and  weak  from  want  of  food. 
As  we  were  moving  her,  who  should  come  up  but 
Eyes-that-weep,  who  had  been  smuggling  food  to 
her  and  doing  her  best  for  her  generally  during  the 
siege.  She  and  her  father  had  been  taken  prisoners 
at  Chebucto  by  Monsieur  Duvivier,  and  she  had 
been  sent  here,  though  what  has  become  of  her 
father  we  do  not  know.    We  must  find  out.    He 


•:  <fcF^ 


THE  SNARE. 


143 


was  a  friend  of  your  undo  Andrew's,  I  know,  and 
it  was  owing  to  liiin  that  your  uncle  bought  the 
land  at  Chebucto.  Some  kindness  rendered  to 
Eyes-that-weep  w^hen  at  Chebucto  three  years  ago 
led  to  Mary's  being  recognized  by  the  Micmac 
woman,  and  to  her  faring  better  than  she  might 
have  done  if  she  had  had  no  friends.  When  the 
French  cleared  out  she  of  course  had  no  wish  to  go 
with  them  to  France,  and  when  I  heard  her  name  I 
brought  her  here,  and  the  Micmac,  for  a  trifle,  looks 
after  her." 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  is  our  secret  to  be  solved  in 
Louisbourg!  Did  I  not  say  that  the  thought  of 
Eyes-that-weep  always  led  me  to  think  of  Che- 
bucto ? " 

"  Pooh !  "  said  father.  "  I  suppose  we  shall  have 
the  medicine-man  next?" 

"  And  why  not  ? "  said  I.  *'  I  feel  sure  we  have 
had  the  medicine-man." 

"Which  one?"  asked  Mary. 

"  Our  medicine-man,"  said  I,  much  as  if  I  were 
talking  of  the  family  physician.  "You  will  see. 
Let  me  ask  Eyes-that-weep." 


m 


'i 


>?i! 


ip 


V  1 


144 


englishman's  haven. 


■=,  14 


:    f:  a 


But  Eyos-tliat-weep  had  gone. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  father,  "  you  can  ask  her 
this  evening.     She  has  gone  to  the  parson's." 

"  Is  she  a  Protestant  ? "  asked  I,  astonished. 

"Oh  yes!"  said  Captain  Ardyne.  "The  man 
with  the  chopper  secured  her  as  his  first  convert. 
She  is  quite  a  distinguished  character  at  present." 

"  She  is  very  good,"  said  Mary. 

"Yes,  my  child.  She  would  not  be  allowed  to 
look  after  you  if  she  were  not,"  said  the  captain. 
"I  am  not  smiling  at  Eyes-that-weep,  but  at  the 
anxiety  of  a  certain  minister  of  the  Gospel  to  secure 
a  first  convert  at  any  price.  Such  haste  ill  beseems 
a  serious  change  of  life." 

"  Is  Eyes-that-weep  any  worse  for  the  change  ?  " 
asked  I. 

"  No,"  said  father,  "  and  no  better  that  I  can  see. 
She  had  been  a  papist  for  many  years,  and  having 
been  wise  enough  to  follow  example,  she  has  im- 
proved considerably." 

"  Then  you  do  not  think  her  teacher  was  such 
as  Le  Loutre  ?  "  said  I. 

"  No,"  said  father,  "  but .  there  are  exceptions  to 


i 


THE  SNAEE. 


145 


every  rule,  and  I  did  not  say  it  was  the  teaching 
she  profited  by,  but  the  example.  But  now  tell  mo 
about  your  voyage." 

And  I  did.  But  before  I  liad  half  ended  Captain 
Angel  called  in,  on  his  way  from  the  citadel,  and 
told  me  we  were  ordered  off  at  once  with  despatches. 
So  I  returned  to  the  brigantine,  and  in  less  than  an 
hour  the  despatches  were  aboard,  and  we  had  set 
sail. 

The  voyage  need  not  detain  me.  On  the  return 
we  sighted  Louisbourg  at  sunrise,  and  out  at  sea 
we  noticed  a  large  ship  approaching.  As  we  neared 
the  harbor  we  saw  the  French  flags  still  flying,  but 
knowing  this  to  be  a  ruse  we  felt  no  concern.  Our 
danger  rather  seemed  to  be  from  the  strange  ship, 
which  was  steered  as  though  to  cut  us  off.  At  half- 
past  six  o'clock  Captain  Angel  made  her  out  to  be  a 
French  frigate.  We  were  in  a  difficult  position,  as 
only  a  few  of  our  fishing-boats  were  outside  Light- 
house Point,  and  it  would  not  do  to  be  captured  by 
the  Frenchman,  or  scare  him  away,  so  we  held  on. 

At  seven  o'clock  Angel  astonished  his  crew  by 

ordering  them  to  stand  by  the  gun. 
10 


.(1 


146 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


ijs 


"  "We  must  have  a  shoot  of  some  sort,"  said  he 
to  me.  "  That  ship  means  the  needful ;  if  we  can 
only  fire  a  few  times  at  her  we  can  claim  prize 
money.  She  has  come  too  far  now ;  the  wind  will 
prevent  her  getting  away." 

''There  goes  her  ensign,  sir,"  said  the  man  at 
the  helm. 

"  White,  with  the  golden  lilies,  of  course,"  said 
Angel.    "  Let  us  give  her  a  salute." 

And  in  a  few  minutes,  with  much  effort,  the  gun 
amidships  was  discharged. 

"  Let  us  have  another,"  said  Angel. 

Three  shots  in  all  were  fired,  and  the  Frenchman 
came  rolling  on  unharmed,  for  the  shot  all  fell  short. 
The  Loo  had,  however,  given  the  alarm,  and  came 
slipping  through  the  fishing-boats  into  the  harbor, 
crowded  with  canvas,  as  if  closely  chased.  At  once 
Angel  reported  the  ship,  and  in  a  few  minutes  off 
went  the  Sunderland  and  Chester  to  fight  her.  As 
they  sailed  out  they  had  French  colors  flying,  and 
it  was  only  when  they  were  alongside,  and  when 
the  Chester  had  fired  i.  shot  and  brought  down 
the  Frenchman's  foretopsail,  that  the  true  colors 


''I 


u 


THE   SNARE. 


147 


were  shown,  and  then  the  ship  immediately  sur- 
rendered. 

I  heard  the  story  of  her  capture  a  day  or  two 
afterwards,  and  though  I  rejoiced  at  the  result,  I 
could  not  help  feeling  pity  for  her  commander.  On 
the  22d  of  October  the  Notre  Dame  de  la  JDelivrance 
started  from  Callao  for  France.  Her  cargo  was 
described  as  cacao,  and  she  had  some  cacao,  but 
underneath  it  and  covered  by  it  and  quinquina  and 
vigonia  wool  were  two  million  Peruvian  dollars,  and 
gold  and  silver,  in  ingots  and  bars,  vimounting  in 
all  to  £800,000.  On  the  21st  of  July,  when  off  the 
Azores,  she  and  the  Louis  Erasme  and  the  Marquis 
(VAiitln,  with  whom  she  was  in  company,  were  at- 
tacked by  two  English  privateers,  and  after  a  stub- 
born fight  she  got  away,  but  left  her  consorts  as 
prizes  in  the  Englishmen's  hands.  And  good  prizes 
they  were,  for  they  had  on  board  three  million  dol- 
lars, which,  I  afterwards  read,  took  forty-three 
wagons  to  carry  from  Bristol  to  London,  and  dis- 
tributed so  well  that  every  man  before  the  mast  got 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  as  his  share. 

The  Notre  Bame^  having  escaped  the  privateers, 


■! 


'f\ 


M  < 


li^, 


148 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


made  sail  for  Louisbourg,  aud  on  the  13tli  of  August 
her  captain  sig'  3d  the  Loo  making  for  the  harbor. 
When  we  fired  our  guns,  after  she  had  shown  her 
colors,  her  captain  thought  we  suspected  he  was 
under  false  colors,  and  he  laughed  at  our  hurried 
flight. 

At  eight  o'clock  he  saw  the  two  men-of-war 
coming  out,  and  supposed  that  they  were  French 
come  to  overhaul  the  B'  ton  privateer  reported  by 
the  brigantine.  Great  was  the  joy  of  all  on  board 
at  seeing  a  speedy  end  to  their  dangerous  voyage. 
A  boat  was  ordered  to  be  cleared,  and  the  guns 
were  unshotted  so  as  to  be  ready  for  saluting,  when 
suddenly  off  came  the  French  colors  from  the  two 
ships,  out  flew  the  cross  of  St.  George,  and  the  ship 
on  the  starboard  side  fired  the  shot  which  cut  the 
foretopsail  halliards  and  brought  down  the  sail. 
Nothing  could  be  done  but  surrender,  as  the  Notre 
Dame  was  leaky,  poorly  armed,  and  quite  unprepared 
for  serious  resistance,  and  the  smallest  of  the  Eng- 
glish  vessels  was  more  than  a  match  for  her.  Cap- 
tain Durell,  of  the  Chester^  had  been  engaged  in 
making  charts  and  surveying  the  harbor;   he  had 


\r,t 


'r 


THE   SNARE. 


149 


now  a  pleasanter  object  to  survey  in  the  shape  of  a 
bag  of  prize  money,  for  he  sent  his  boat  on  board 
and  took  possession,  and  brought  the  Notre  Dame 
into  Louisbourg. 

I  am  thus  particular  in  describing  the  capture  of 
the  Notre  DamCy  as,  when  the  prize  money  came  to 
be  settled,  it  was  decided  that  the  Chester,  the  Siin- 
derlandy  and  our  brigantine  should  all  share.  And 
my  share  of  prize  money,  though  small,  became  the 
nest  eggj  which,  agreeable  to  Angel's  recommenda- 
tion, I  basted  with  its  own  gravy  until  I  became  the 
owner  of  the  Loo. 

When  we  landed  we  found  that  the  Notre  Dame 
was  not  the  only  vessel  that  had  fallen  a  prey 
to  the  device  of  the  false  colors.  The  Charmante 
and  the  Heron  had  been  similarly  caught,  and  a 
matter  of  £175,000  in  prize  money  fell  to  their 
captors. 

But  I  was  to  hear  the  morality  of  these  pro- 
ceedings commented  upon  in  an  unexpected  quarter. 

At  my  father's  lodgings  I  found  Mary  and  the 
Indian  woman,  but  not  my  father,  who  was  out  on 
duty. 


El 


l4i 


150 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


"  All !  Eyes-that-weep !  "  I  said,  "  have  you 
many  friends  among  tlie  Indians  1 " 

"  Many." 

"  Do  you  know  a  medicine-man  who  talks  with 
his  fingers,  and  is  called  the  Cormorant ! " 

"Pujookr» 

"What?" 

"  Pujook  is  the  Cormorant." 

"  Just  so,"  said  I,  for  want  of  something  better 
to  say.    "  Do  you  know  Pujook  f " 

"  He  is  there ! "  said  Eyes-that-weep. 

And  I  hastily  turned,  to  find  that  an  Indian  had 
followed  me  in. 

There  was  no  mistake.  It  was  the  same  Indian 
who  had  helped  me  into  the  fort. 

We  looked  at  each  other,  and  the  Indian  began 
to  gesticulate.  I  shook  my  head  and  said  some- 
thing in  hesitating  and  fragmentary  French.  The 
Indian  spoke  a  few  quick  words  to  Eyes-that-weep. 

"  Why,  I  thought  you  were  dumb ! "  said  I. 

Eyes-that-weep  laughed,  and  said,  "No,  Pujook 
not  dumb,  but  French  he  hates  and  English  he 
knows  not." 


THE  SNAKE. 


151 


The  Cormorant  again  said  a  phrase  or  two  in 
what  I  sui)posed  to  be  Micmac. 

"  Pujook  say,"  said  the  woman,  "  anything  you 
want  to  know  ask  me  and  I  will  ask  him." 

"  Ask  him  why  he  helped  me  into  the  Grand 
Battery,"  said  I. 

"  Because  he  is  no  friend  to  French.  He  is  glad 
when  they  are  beaten." 

"Oh!"  said  I.  "Hear!  hear!  What  does  he 
think  of  our  capture  of  the  ship  this  morning!" 

"  The  Cormorant  is  glad,"  translated  the  woman, 
"  but  the  manner  of  the  capture  was  not  good.  It 
was  in  the  French  manner,  not  in  the  English. 
The  French  flags  have  been  too  long  on  Louisbourg 
and  the  ships.  They  have  been  there  so  long  that 
they  may  come  there  to  stay  for  a  time — before  the 
end.  The  English  will  not  keep  Louisbourg  for 
long.  There  will  be  trouble  about  the  money  in  the 
ships  taken  by  the  false  flags,  and  the  trouble  will 
not  be  f orgotton  for  long,  long  time.    I  have  said  it." 

"  What  do  you  say,  Mary ! "  asked  I. 

"  I  think  Pujook  is  right." 

"  Have  you  known  him  long  ? " 


>? 


152 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


There  was  more  Micmac  between  the  Indians. 

"  The  Cormorant  says,"  interpreted  the  woman, 
"  that  Mary  is  his  friend,  and  Felix  is  his  friend, 
and  that  who  hurts  them  will  be  hurt  by  him." 

"  Thanks,"  said  I.     "  Is  Mary  in  any  danger  ?  " 

"  She  lias  been  in  danger,  and  may  be  in  danger 
again.  Her  father  was  the  Cormorant's  friend. 
The  Cormorant  asks  you  to  make  her  tell  you  about 
her  father,  that  you  may  help  to  search." 

"  To  search  for  what  ? "  asked  I. 

"  Her  father." 


lif 


r 


^-^.^^-,,>- 


CHAPTER  XI. 


..  fl 


11 


THE  ALARM. 

IITTLE  could  be  learned  from  Mary  regarding 
her  father.  All  she  knew  was  that  the  small 
settlement  had  been  destroyed,  and  that  she 
had  been  hurried  to  a  ship  bound  to  Louis- 
bourg,  after  seeing  her  wounded  father  borne  off 
apparently  to  another  ship.  Of  her  mode  of  life 
she  spoke  freely,  but  what  she  said  gave  no  clue 
whatever  to  her  father's  whereabouts. 

My  father  talked  the  matter  over  with  me,  for  I 
was  always  my  father's  friend,  but  we  could  resolve 
on  nothing.  Pujook,  as  it  happened,  had  gone  at 
once  to  visit  his  people  across  the  great  lake  of 
Bras  d'Or,  so  Eyes-that-weep  told  us,  and  no  further 
information  could  be  gained  as  to  why  it  was  so  im- 
portant to  seek  for  Mr.  Kervan. 

Thus  the  matter  remained  in  abeyance.  I  had 
quite  enough  to  do,  journeying  backward  and  for- 


■ 


m 


p,. 


( 

'i! 

i 

I 


t!  I 


IN 


ism 


pi" 

Mj    lis 


154 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


ward  in  the  brigantiiie,  and  my  father  had  to  attend 
to  irksome  garrison  duty,  of  which  not  the  least  un- 
pleasant part  was  attendance  at  daily  funerals,  for 
dysentery  was  killing  the  men  in  hundreds.  The 
Cormorant's  prophecy  was  in  course  of  fulfilment. 
Our  mother-country  would  not  give  the  colonists 
due  credit  for  their  achievement,  and  instead  of 
cherishing  their  martial  ardor  sought  to  repress  it 
as  being  dangerous  to  future  peace.  By  a  blunder 
the  Provincials  who  had  volunteered  for  an  expe- 
dition to  be  over  in  a  couple  of  months  were  kept 
at  Louisbourg  till  the  following  April  waiting  for 
the  garrison  of  regulars.  Warren,  although  the 
most  American  of  British  admirals,  and  the  owner 
of  a  large  estate  on  the  Mohawk — which  afterwards 
became  famous  as  that  of  his  nephew  Johnson — 
seemed  striving  to  belittle  the  services  of  Pepperrell 
and  the  enthusiastic  New  Englanders. 

During  the  siege  Warren  had  captured  the  Vigi- 
lante, and  with  regard  to  her  and  all  the  other  capt- 
ured vessels,  he  claimed  half  the  prize  money  for 
the  crown  and  the  rest  for  the  fleet.  This  was  in 
accordance  with  custom,  I  believe,  but  the  troops 


THE  ALAEM. 


155 


expected  that  all  captures  would  be  divided  equally 
among  them ;  iu  fact,  it  had  been  so  stated  at  the 
time  of  their  volunteering ;  and  it  was  owing  to  this 
arrangement  that  their  pay  had  been  so  small.  All 
that  was  left  to  be  shared  among  them  was,  how- 
ever, what  had  been  captured  on  land,  which,  as  it 
did  not  include  the  city  or  the  country,  ended  in 
being  the  few  pounds  obtained  by  the  sale  of  French 
provisions  and  spare  clothing  for  French  trooj^s. 
And  at  this  there  was  much  discontent. 

In  many  other  ways  offence  was  given  to  the 
colonials.  Their  appearance  was  laughed  at,  as  well 
it  might  be ;  but  it  was  forgotten  that  it  was  not 
the  clothes  that  had  won  Loi.  bourg,  but  the  men 
that  wore  them. 

In  fact,  the  success  of  the  New  Englanders'  Cru- 
sade had  much  to  do  with  the  eventual  independence 
of  the  United  States.  Pepperrell  had  followed  Phipps 
in  showing  what  the  States  could  do  single-handed, 
and  had  organized  an  army  which  succeeded  in  its 
object  by  disregarding  the  formal  rules  of  war.  The 
lesson  was  not  lost,  and  many  of  his  old  officers  and 
men  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  contest  that  ended 


mr] 


Ir  •  '" 


^Bi 


156 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


■         (! 


in  separation.  The  old  country  so  mismanaged 
matters  as  to  tonch  the  colonists,  not  only  in  their 
self-esteem,  but  in  their  pockets,  and  the  great 
political  blunder  that  was  soon  to  be  perpetrated 
led  the  high-spirited  Americans  to  look  upon  most 
things  English  with  contempt.  And  so  it  came 
about  that  at  Louisbourg  were  sown  many  of  the 
dragon's  teeth  that  were  to  stimulate  that  increase 
of  fission  which  is  the  dismay  of  rival  nations  who 
look  upon  Britain  as  dead  when,  in  fact,  she  has 
only  just  begun  to  grow. 

On  June  1,  1746,  Sir  "William  Pepperrell  ar- 
rived in  Boston  with  a  good  many  of  the  New  Eng- 
land army,  among  whom  was  Captain  Ardyne's 
company.  A  few  days  afterwards  Captain  Angel's 
employment  ended,  and  he  was  free  to  take  the 
saucy  Loo  to  any  port  he  pleased.  Captain  Ardyne 
would  have  resigned  his  commission  to  make  his 
long-delayed  journey  to  Chebucto,  but  he  was  re- 
quested to  wait  awhile,  as  rumors  had  arrived  of 
the  preparing  of  the  great  French  armada  which 
was  to  recapture  Louisbourg  and  lay  Boston  in 
ruins — if  it  could. 


THE  ALARM. 


157 


It  was  on  a  Monday  that  a  ship  arrived  with 
despatches  for  the  Governor.  There  was  a  hasty 
summoning  of  the  council  and  much  hurrying 
about.  And  then  the  news  was  made  pubUc.  The 
armada  had  left  Brest  on  the  22d  of  July ;  and  its 
commander  was  the  Duke  of  Anville. 

"  A  good  name  for  a  French  commander,"  said 
Angel  to  me. 

"And  why?" 

"  Anvils  are  made  to  be  hammered." 

"  Yes,  but  they  last." 

"  And  they  rust." 

Boston  had  been  quiet  for  some  time.  White- 
field  had  gone,  and  the  religious  fever  had  subsided 
considerably.  Fortunately,  the  tide  of  fanaticism 
had  risen  just  high  enough  to  do  service  to  the 
State,  and  had  ebbed  as  soon  as  it  threatened  to  be 
dangerous.  But,  like  all  tides,  it  ebbed  and  flowed, 
and  if  a  "Whitefield  or  even  a  Catch-em-alive-oh  had 
again  appeared,  I  think  the  crowd  would  have  be- 
come as  excited  as  before.  But  no  preacher  was 
there  to  raise  enthusiasm ;  and  enthusiasm  had  for 
a  time  gone  out  of  fashion.    Respectability  had  its 


i 


^■»] 


'.'t 


158 


englishman's  haven. 


"(* 


I  ; 

I  ! 


Mr.  Prince ;  but  Mr.  Prince  was  too  superior  a  per- 
son for  the  rough  work  of  the  streets. 

Wo  were  busy  in  Boston  that  afternoon. 

"  Seems  to  me,"  said  Angel,  "  we  shall  have  our 
work  cut  out  for  us  this  time." 

"  Why  more  so  than  we  have  had  ? "  asked  I. 

"  There  is  all  the  difference  between  leading  an 
assault  and  waiting  for  an  attack.  In  one  case  you 
choose  your  own  time ;  in  the  other  you  wait  till  it 
pleases  your  enemy  to  set  you  to  work.  We  may 
be  waiting  for  the  French  for  months,  and  they  may 
then  come  when  we  are  tired  of  expecting  them. 
Go  ashore  for  a  couple  of  hours  and  see  what  news 
you  can  pick  up." 

And  ashore  I  went. 

There  was  an  air  of  solemnity,  or  rather  grim- 
ness  about,  which  struck  me  forcibly.  While  the 
Louisbourg  expedition  was  recruiting  even  the 
"  convicted  "  were  cheerful  and  garrulous.  Now  the 
men  were  serious  and  spoke"  briefly.  There  were 
little  knots  of  them  every  few  yards,  three  or  four 
together,  discussing  the  outlook  in  an  undertone. 
What  would  the  Governor  do?    Was  there  any 


THE  ALAllM. 


159 


II 


le 
le 
e 
le 


British  fleet  on  the  seas  to  help  us  ?  Had  the  French 
given  them  the  slip  ?  Were  we  to  have  the  French 
in  Boston  1    Never ! 

As  I  made  my  way  along  I  saw  that  something 
of  importance  had  just  occurred,  and  I  soon  dis- 
covered that  this  was  the  issue  of  a  proclamation 
calling  out  six  thousand  men  as  militia.  This  was 
a  large  number  for  so  small  a  population,  and  it 
showed  that  the  Governor  was  in  earnest.  There 
would  be  no  difficulty  in  raising  the  men,  as  the 
recent  expedition  had  left  a  large  number  fidgety 
with  military  fever,  and  disinclined  to  turn  to  any 
trade  but  that  of  war. 

I  returned  to  the  Loo  with  the  news.  Next  day 
Angel  heard  that  new  forts  were  to  be  built  for  de- 
fence, and  it  soon  became  the  fashion  to  go  out  and 
watch  the  men  at  work  throwing  up  the  batteries. 

Then  another  step  was  taken ;  a  series  of  look- 
out stations  was  established,  every  station  with  a 
beacon.  Just  as  England  did  at  the  time  of  the 
Spanish  Armada  so  did  we.  Each  beacon  was  in 
sight  of  another  beacon,  so  that  the  signals  could  be 
spread  instantly,  not  only  along  the  coast  but  to 


160 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


'$§'\\ 


tlie  inland  settlements.  The  beacons  were  not 
simply  placed  on  the  headlands  and  high  grounds, 
but  some  of  them  were  in  the  valleys,  if  in  that 
position  they  could  more  readily  spread  the  news. 
The  plan  of  these  beacons  was  very  carefully  thought 
out,  as  indeed  was  that  of  Elizabeth's  beacons,  the 
plan  of  which  still  exists. 

Our  colonists  then  were  a  quiet,  clean-spoken 
people,  but  in  all  this  hurried  and  exciting  work  it 
was  inevitable  that  among  the  weak  impatiejice 
should  show  itself  in  an  occasional  imprecation. 
But  this  was  undesirable  in  every  respect.  It  was 
a  "  falling  away  "  which  all,  even  the  imprecators, 
saw  with  sorrow.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Prince  said  "it 
was  a  scandal  that  should  be  nipped  in  the  bud." 

* --What  is  the  bud  1 "  asked  Angel. 

"  The  bud,"  said  my  father,  "  is  the  note  of  ex- 
clamation ! " 

"  Then  is  Mr.  Prince  going  to  nip  off  our  excla- 
mation notes?" 

"  I  think  so." 

And  he  did !  There  was  an  old  statute  in  Massa- 
chusetts against  profaneness,  and  a  proclamation 


THE  ALAEM. 


IGl 


was  issued  calling  attention  to  it,  and  giving  notice 
that  it  would  be  strictly  enforced.  And  the  general 
speech  again  became  undecorated;  and  exclama- 
tions and  expletives,  though  occasionally  thought, 
were  seldom  uttered. 

Soon  there  was  another  proclamation,  this  time 
of  a  solemn  fast  to  supplicate  mercy  in  our  trouble. 
On  that  day  all  Boston  went  to  church.  I  went  to 
hear  Mr.  Prince.  "While  we  were  in  church  a  storm 
arose.  When  the  minister  began  to  preach  the  hail 
rattled  against  the  windows ;  and  the  wind  moaned 
so  that  he  was  almost  inaudible,  although  his  voice 
was  loud.  It  was  only  now  and  then  we  could  hear 
a  word ;  but  what  he  said  mattered  not,  as  we  were 
all  thinking  of  the  storm.  And  he,  thinking  with 
us,  availed  himself  skilfully  of  our  meditations,  and 
when  at  last  a  lull  occurred  for  a  few  moments,  he 
knelt  vlown  and  asked  us  to  join  him  in  prayer,  that 
the  storm  might  light  upon  the  Frenchmen's  ar- 
mada, and  destroy  it  utterly. 

And  then  again  did  Boston  become  cheery  with 

martial  music,  and  warlike  with  the  tramp  of  armed 

men.    Soon  the  covering  forts  were   armed,   the 
11 


1^'' 


162 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


militia  duly  drilled  and  disciplined,  and  the  beacons 
ready  for  lighting,  to  give  either  smoke  or  a  clear 
fire.    And  day  and  night  we  waited  for  the  French. 

The  news  came  at  last.  It  was  a  small  sloop 
that  brought  it,  perhaps  the  slowest  sailer  that  ever 
carried  a  message.  As  she  lumbered  clumsily 
through  the  water  no  notice  was  taken  of  her,  so 
little  did  we  think  that  such  a  craft  could  carry  such 
news. 

Angel  came  aboard  the  Loo  whistling  loudly. 

"  Hallo,  Felix !     The  French  are  coming !  " 

"  When  ? " 

"  Ay,  that  is  the  question !  Where  do  you  think 
they  are  now  1 " 

"Louisbourg?" 

"  No !     Chebucto ! " 

"  You  are  making  game  of  me." 

"No.  Their  rendezvous  is  at  Chebucto — and 
there  they  are,  what  is  left  of  them." 

"  Has  there  been  a  battle  1 " 

"Yes.  With  the  storm — Prince's  storm!  Be 
they  Spaniards  or  Frenchmen,  we  always  get  the 
wind  on  our  side  when  they  mean  mischief." 


M 


!  I 


THE  ALAEM. 


163 


Ind 


As  Angel  said  this,  he  heard  a  strange  voice  ask- 
ing for  him  on  deck.  It  was  a  messenger  from  the 
Governor,  requiring  his  immediate  presence.  He 
was  gone  about  an  hour. 

"  Good  news !  "  he  said,  on  his  return.  "  I  am 
off  to  get  a  look  at  the  French ;  it  is  rather  a  risky 
commission,  but  we  must  trust  to  our  heads  and 
the  ship's  heels.'' 

"  When  do  we  start  ? " 

"  Now,  or  sooner,  if  possible.  If  you  want  any- 
thing from  the  shore  you  must  look  alive.  We  shall 
be  off  in  half  an  hour  at  the  outside." 

And  three  quarters  of  an  hour  afterwards  we 
were  under  way. 

When  we  arrived  off  the  headland  at  the  en- 
trance into  the  estuary  at  Chebucto,  we  could  see 
no  sign  of  shipping  from  the  distance.  Keeping  on 
for  awhile,  Angel  made  for  a  small  harbor  more  to 
the  eastward  where  there  were  some  well-wooded 
creeks,  in  one  of  which  it  was  proposed  to  anchor 
the  Loo  while  one  of  us  went  scouting  ashore. 

Unnoticed  and  undisturbed  we  made  our  way  in, 
and  quietly  took  up  a  comfortable  berth  amid  a 


P  :l 


I  I 


t  I 


164 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


mass  of  trees  that  Lid  our  spars,  not  only  from  the 
sea,  but  from  everywhere  except  the  banks  of  the 
creek. 

"  Suppose  we  are  surprised  ? "  said  I. 

"  Suppose  nothing  of  the  sort ! "  said  Angel. 
"  We  will  keep  good  watch,  and  surprise  is  out  of 
the  question." 

"  But  the  French  might  bottle  us  up !  " 

"  We  shall  not  stay  long  enough  to  be  bottled. 
We  can  get  all  the  information  we  want  by  to-mor- 
row night." 

"  How  far  is  it  from  here  to  Chebucto  ?  " 

"  Five  or  six  miles.  The  question  is,  Who  will 
go  I " 

"I  will  go." 

"  You  really  mean  it  1   You  will  have  to  go  alone. 

"  Yes.     I  mean  it." 

"  I  think  it  is  best  that  you  should  go.  There  is 
no  danger  that  I  know  of  in  the  woods,  the  only 
danger  is  here,  and  I  must  stay  and  be  ready  for  it. 

"Indians!"  said  I. 

"Not  here.  It  is  out  of  their  track.  All  you 
have  to  do  is  to  steer  by  compass  due  west,  and  as 


om  the 
of  the 


A-ngel. 
)ut  of 


ttled. 
■mor- 


will 


3  lie. 


e  IS 
Illy 
it. 

ou 
as 


mi^ 


With  many  a  cai(tion   from  Angel,  off  I  went. 


*i      5*, 


THE  ALAEM. 


165 


you  return  steer  due  east.  In  neither  case  can  you 
miss  your  object.  Keep  your  eyes  open,  of  course ; 
trust  to  your  eyes  alone.  Do  not  speak  to  any  one, 
nor  be  seen  by  any  one,  if  you  can  help  it.  If  you 
start  at  eight  o'clock  to-morrow  morning  you  ought 
to  be  back  easily  by  three  in  the  afternoon.'' 

And  at  eight  o'clock  next  morning  I  started. 

I  was  very  proud.  It  was  my  first  expedition 
alone ;  and  I  was  going  to  have  my  first  sight  of 
the  mysterious  Chebucto.  With  many  a  caution 
from  Angel  as  to  taking  care  of  myself,  and  armed 
with  a  light  ax  with  which  I  proposed  to  cut  a  gash 
in  the  trunks  of  the  trees  as  I  passed  along,  so  as 
to  mark  my  path,  off  I  went. 

I  had  been  alone  in  the  woods  before,  but  never 
did  I  feel  so  lonely  as  after  the  first  half -hour.  My 
sense  of  hearing  seemed  to  quicken  greatly.  I  could 
almost,  like  the  boy  in  the  story,  hear  the  trees 
growing.  There  was  a  murmur  of  life  all  around 
me,  and  yet  I  felt  that  no  harm  would  befall  me  if  I 
did  my  duty. 

Thick  as  were  the  trees,  I  found  no  difficulty  in 
maintaining  a  westerly  course,  and  the  sharp  chops 


II 


'^  mm 


166 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


|il'!':"il 


i 


;r 


m: 


l: 


I 


!';ii 


:  i; 


of  the  ax,  as  I  cut  into  the  bark  as  I  passed,  seemed 
to  tick  off  the  yards  of  my  progress.  Hero  and 
there  the  underwood  was  thick,  and  I  had  to  diverge 
a  little,  but  never  for  long,  and  I  carefully  marked 
my  trees,  and  took  my  bearings  in  such  a  way  as  to 
regain  my  true  line  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  trees  did  not  last  all  the  way ;  soon  I  came 
upon  patches  of  open  country,  and  indeed  I  passed 
two  lakes  and  some  marshy  ground  before  I  entered 
on  the  last  mile ;  but  I  cut  a  big,  broad  arrow  on 
the  trees  from  which  I  came  and  the  trees  to  which 
I  went,  and  according  to  Angel's  advice  noted  the 
conspicuous  landmarks  in  a  little  book  I  had  with 
me,  so  as  to  make  no  mistake. 

We  had  worked  it  all  out  in  the  cabin  the  night 
before,  thinking  of  all  the  possible  sources  of  dan- 
ger, and  taking  our  measures  to  meet  them.  Really, 
although  I  say  it  myself — but  remembering  that  the 
credit  was  due  to  Angel,  who  planned  the  journey — 
this  was  a  genuine  bit  of  work.  I  held  on  my 
course,  marked  it,  noted  it,  and  made  no  slip.  At 
the  same  time  I  must  confess  I  saw  nothing  but  my 
road.    I  knew  not  then,  though  I  know  now,  what 


THE  ALARM. 


167 


trees  there  were,  what  shrubs,  or  birds,  or  furred 
animals.  My  whole  attention  was  concentrated  on 
my  course,  and  beyond,  as  I  have  said,  a  general 
feeling  that  everything  was  alive,  I  was  insensible 
to  my  surroundings.  On  I  went,  as  fast  as  I  could 
go,  and  as  straight  as  I  could  go. 

I  had  been  driving  ahead  for  a  little  more  than 
three  hours,  when  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  water 
through  the  trees,  and  coming  to  a  hillside  I  saw  in 
front  of  me  what  looked  like  a  wide  river. 

Moving  on  more  cautiously,  I  reached  a  wooded 
knoll,  and  there,  below  me,  lay  the  long-sought 
Chebucto. 

There  was  the  ruined  block-house,  and  there, 
close  to  it,  were  a  few  huts,  and  not  far  off  was 
what  looked  like  a  camp.  And  all  along  the  river, 
here  and  there,  and  in  twos  and  threes,  lay  the  great 
French  fleet. 

I  looked  and  could  not  believe  my  eyes.  Was  it 
a  reality,  or  a  vision?  Was  this  Chebucto — this 
beautiful  valley,  with  the  wide  estuary  dividing  it 
and  the  rich  forest  framing  it  on  either  hand  !  Real 
it  looked,  and  it  looked  as  I  had  hoped  it  to  be. 


}•■ 


^ 


i 


m 
lit 


ii 


W: 


168 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


But  the  fleet !  Were  the  ships  real  ?  Were  the 
huts  real  ?  Were  the  few  men  I  saw  like  rats  real ! 
I  brought  the  telescope  to  bear,  and  my  eyesight 
seemed  undeceived.  I  took  out  my  little  book,  and 
made  notes  of  what  I  saw.  Again  I  looked  through 
the  telescope.     The  ships  were  no  phantoms. 

I  went  southward  a  little  to  another  shoulder, 
and  looked  out,  and  saw  the  whole  armada.  And  I 
counted  them ;  and  I  laughed. 

And  then  I  returned  to  my  first  knoll,  took 
another  and  parting  look,  and  returned  by  the  way 
I  had  come. 

I  was  back  before  three  o'clock,  much  to  Angel's 
relief.  I  told  him  how  I  had  kept  my  course  and 
had  no  adventure. 

"  When  I  caught  the  gleam  of  water,"  I  said,  "  I 
began  to  descend.  And  then  I  came  out  upon  the 
hillside,  and  looking  down  from  among  the  trees  I 
could  see  the  broad  estuary  and  the  much-talked-of 
armada." 

"  A  fine  sight,  I  should  think,"  said  Angel. 

"A  strange  sight,"  said  I,  "not  that  I  thought 
it  a  fine  one." 


( 


V 


i 


|a"^ 


i 


THE  ALARM. 


1G9 


"And  why  not?" 

"  There  was  the  scattered  fleet  as  I  had  never 
imagined  a  fleet  could  become  in  this  world.  At 
first  I  thought  my  eyes  were  playing  jne  false ;  then 
I  thought  the  air  was  distorting  the  images ;  then  I 
looked  through  my  glass  both  ways  to  test  its  clear- 
ness ;  and  then  I  knew  that  what  I  was  looking  at 
was  really  as  it  had  at  first  appeared." 

"  Whatever  are  you  driving  at  ?  Are  you  hungry, 
tired  out,  excited,  or  what ! " 

"I  have  nothing  at  all  the  matter  with  me; 
though  I  might  well  be  suffering  from  the  shock 
that  view  gave  me." 

"  What,  were  the  ships  burning  blue  like  brim- 
stone ?  " 

"  Worse  than  that." 

"  Get  along ;  time  is  short,  you  know." 

"Well,  the  sheet  of  water,  in  the  open  and 
among  the  trees  of  the  creeks,  was  crowded  with 
shipping.  There  were  masts  everywhere.  There 
were  ships  of  the  line,  there  were  frigates  and  tran- 
sports, some  with  their  guns  out,  some  with  their 
guns  in,  and  all  in  disorder,  huddled  in  patches,  some 


r    t 


^J^ 

^.^! 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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11:25  p  1.4 


1.6 


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^^. 


J'' 


:«i 


170 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


with  barely  room  to  swing.  Have  you  ever  seen  a 
model  ship,  cut  out  by  some  handy  seaman  to  while 
away  his  leisure,  rigged  true  in  every  rope,  and  given 
as  a  present  to  some  boy,  and  then  despised  and  re- 
jected, and  thrown  at  last  into  the  corner  of  a  rag- 
shop  among  bottles  and  old  clothes,  broken  and  thick 
with  dust?" 

"Well?" 

"  The  armada  is  a  fleet  of  ships  like  that,  looking 
as  if  it  had  been  dragged  into  the  harbor  to  be  de- 
serted and  broken  up  for  firewood.  I  know  a  man- 
of-war  when  I  see  her  smart  and  orderly,  but  when 
she  gets  like  that  I  have  to  look  twice  to  recognize 
her.  I  never  supposed  a  fleet  of  war-ships  could 
look  so  dirty  and  slovenly  and  woebegone.  Some 
of  our  Boston  craft,  I  know —  " 

"  Stow  that.  Steer  straight.  "What  is  the  mat- 
ter with  the  ships  I " 

"  The  hulls  are  battered  and  knocked  about,  and 
stained  with  filth ;  the  iron-work  is  thick  with  rust ; 
the  brass- work  is  green  with  verdigiis ;  some  of  the 
ports  are  half  open,  some  full  open,  some  shut,  some 
jammed  anyhow;   odds  and  ends  and  bights  and 


THE  ALARM. 


171 


tangles  of  roi3e  are  hanging  over  the  side.  Every- 
thing is  in  confusion." 

"AYhat  does  it  all  mean?  Ai*e  you  sure  you 
were  close  enough  to  see  this,  and  did  not  imagine 
it!'' 

"  No  imagination  at  all ;  it  is  all  true.  The  tall 
spars  are  dull  and  spotty,  and  many  of  the  uj^per 
ones  have  warped ;  the  black  is  patchy  and  brown, 
the  white  is  worn  away.  The  running  rigging  looks 
to  be  centuries  old,  and  hangs  in  loops  and  twists ; 
and  the  standing  rigging  is  ragged  and  loose,  as  if 
its  work  had  been  done.  The  yards  and  booms  are 
about  the  color  of  scaffold-poles,  and  are  slewed  and 
swung  about  so  that  no  three  of  them  on  any  ship 
point  to  the  same  point  of  the  compass.  Some  of 
the  sails  have  slipped  down  anyhow  from  the  yards ; 
they  are  eaten  in  holes,  and  hang  in  folds  and 
pockets.  Some  are  furled,  and,  even  on  the  largest 
line-of-battle  ship,  are  as  dirty  as  on  any  collier's 
ketch.  Some  of  the  ships  have  clothes  hanging  in 
the  rigging,  with  here  and  there  a  patch  of  white 
shining  out  clean  and  acting  as  a  contrast  to  the 
dirt — " 


'it 


I.  •>] 


gtti 


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i 


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-i 

1 


f 


In  I'i 

3 ' 


lii 


ill' 


1  IJ!: 


/!^ 


172 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


"  Has  the  fleet  been  deserted  ? " 

"  That  I  do  not  know.  On  two  or  three  of  the 
ships  I  saw  about  half  a  dozen  men  altogether. 
They  looked  like  skeletons,  moving  about  so  clum- 
silly  and  listessly.  There  were  many  more  on  the 
shore,  where  there  are  a  gi'oup  of  wooden  shanties — 
a  lot  of  them — and  many  men,  but  none  very  lively 
or  healthy  looking.  I  fancy  the  ships  have  been 
left  for  some  reason,  and  the  men  are  camped  in 
the  huts.  But  of  this  I  feel  certain — that  fleet  will 
never  do  us  harm." 

"  Is  there  any  getting  a  peep  at  this  wonderful 
fleet  from  the  brigantine  ? " 

"  I  should  say  there  was.  I  am  sure  none  of  the 
vessels  are  in  a  fit  state  to  pursue.  You  might 
work  round  by  to-morrow  afternoon,  and  if  there 
was  a  chase  we  could  clear  off  in  the  dark.** 

"  Then  we  will  start  at  once." 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE    TREATY. 


^^^EFORE  the  night  fell  we  were  out  at  sea  again, 
our  object  being  to  cruise  till  daylight,  and 
e,w  so  time  our  course  as  to  arrive  in  Chebucto 
harbor  in  the  afternoon.  Of  course  a  good 
look-out  was  kept,  and  of  course  we  carried  no  lights, 
as  we  had  no  wish  to  be  discovered  by  a  foe,  and 
could  take  our  chance  of  being  run  down  by  a  friend. 

As  the  day  grew  on  and  the  stars  faded,  and  the 
sky  was  gray  and  flushed,  there  was  all  at  once 
noticed  rising  every  minute  or  so  on  the  wi'inkled, 
slaty  blue  sea  a  small,  dark  object,  soon  made  out 
to  be  a  boat.  It  was  on  our  starboard  bow,  between 
us  and  the  land,  and  Captain  Angel  changed  his 
course  a  point  or  two  to  the  northward  so  as  to 
have  a  closer  view. 

As  we  neared  the  boat  we  could  see  there  was  a 
man  on  the  aftermost  thwart,  who,  on  closer  ap- 
proach, appeared  to  be  asleep. 


174 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


I 


r*  li 


ret 


i 

ii 


"  Ahoy  there !    Ahoy !    Ahoy ! "  we  hailed. 

No  answer. 

Was  he  alive  or  dead  or  ill  ?  Was  it  a  man  at 
all  ?    Or  only  a  scarecrow  ? 

The  boat  came  drifting  alongside,  broadside  on. 
I  was  aloft  and  saw  there  was  nothing  in  her  but 
the  man. 

"  Ahoy ! "  roared  Angel,  in  a  voice  of  thunder. 

The  man  moved  and  rubbed  his  eyes,  and  then 
he  fell  backward  on  to  the  floor  of  the  boat. 

Bump  came  the  boat  against  the  brigantine's  side ; 
and  Jim,  one  of  our  men,  was  into  her  in  a  moment. 

"  The  man  is  ill,  sir !  "  he  said. 

"  Help  him  up ! " 

The  man  groaned  and  muttered  something. 

"What  does  he  say?" 

"  He  says  I  am  not  to  touch  him." 

"  Nonsense !  Pick  him  up !  Lend  a  hand  there 
one  Oi  you ! " 

"Touch  me  not!"  said  the  stranger.  "It  will 
be  your  death  if  you  do ! " 

"  Don't  sing  so  big,"  said  Jim.  "  You'll  have  to 
come  along  with  us." 


l!    ill 


' 


THE  TKEATY. 


175 


And  witli  some  difficulty  he  was  lifted  up  on  to 
the  deck. 

"Throw  me  overboard,"  said  the  man  huskily. 
"  'Twill  be  better  for  you ! " 

"  And  why  ?    You  are  but  one  to  a  ship's  crew." 

"  I  don't  mean  fighting,  bless  you ! "  said  the 
man.    "  I  am  innocent  of  that." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  then  ? " 

"  Small-pox." 

We  all  recoiled — for  a  minute.  Then  Angel 
went  and  knelt  by  his  side  and  looked  earnestly  at 
him. 

"  Small-pox  or  no  small-pox,"  said  he,  "  you  are 
weak  and  over-tired.  We  are  not  going  to  throw 
you  overboard  now  we  have  you  here." 

And  turning  to  us  he  ordered  a  blanket  to  be 
brought,  in  which  he  rolled  the  man,  and  telling  us 
to  keep  well  away  till  he  returned,  he  went  below. 
Soon  he  was  back  with  some  stimulant  which  he 
gave  the  man,  who  drank  it  greedily. 

"  My  blessing  on  ye ! "  said  the  stranger.  "  It's 
Irish ! '' 

And  he  rolled  over  and  went  to  sleep.    In  an 


T!W'.,3 


5- 


176 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


i      . 

1 

11 

j 
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1 
1 

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ill 

( 

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111 

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1 

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; 

i ' '  *  J 

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hour  he  was  awake  again,  and  after  some  more 
whiskey  and  a  little  soup  he  was  sufficiently  re- 
covered to  answer  the  questions  that  were  put  to 
him. 

"  What  are  you  ?  "  asked  Angel. 

"  Sure,  Pm  a  Frenchman." 

"  A  Frenchman !  I  thought  you  were  an  Irish- 
man!" 

"  Ah !    I  was  once." 

"  Once !    Where  do  you  come  from  ? " 

"  Chebucto." 

"Phew!"  said  Angel.  "And  how  long  have 
you  had  small-pox  ? " 

"  I  haven't  had  it ;  but  Pm  going  to." 

"  Oh,  I  see !     Small-pox  at  Chebucto,  eh  ? " 

"  That's  the  truth." 

"And  what  have  you  done?  Run  away  from 
it!" 

"  From  it  and  with  it,  I  tell  you ! " 

"  What  is  your  name  !  " 

"  CaUaghan." 

"  Hum ! "  said  Angel.  "  Sounds  Frenchy !  Will 
you  have  some  more  of  the  national  di'ink?" 


THE  TREATY. 


177 


"  National  drink,  is  it  ? " 

And  Callaglian  smiled,  and  drank. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Callaglian,"  said  Angel,  "  you  had 
better  go  to  sleep  again.  It's  my  belief  you  have 
no  more  small-pox  than  I  have.  So  sleep  off  the 
delusion,  and  wake  with  an  appetite.'' 

The  appetite  with  which  the  stranger  awoke  was 
hearty  enough  to  make  us  wonder  and  envy.  And 
as  he  ate  he  became  quite  cheerful. 

"  I'm  a  prisoner,  I  suppose  ? "  he  said. 

"Looks  like  it,"  said  Angel;  "but  it  depends 
on  how  you  behave  yourself.  I  don't  take  a  mean 
advantage  of  a  man  when  he  is  reasonable ;  when 
you  are  strong  enough  I'll  put  you  ashore." 

"Ashore!  No!"  said  Callaghan  decidedly. 
"  No,  not  there !    Not  where  I  came  from." 

"  Why  not  1 " 

"I'll  tell  you  anything!  I'll  do  anything  for 
you,  only  don't  send  me  back.  It  is  horrible,  hor- 
rible !  I  should  not  live  an  hour,  I  tell  you.  I 
should  die  like  a  dog,  and  have  to  bury  myself." 

"  You  are  an  Irishman  1 " 

"  I  am  that,  but  I  have  been  in  the  French  navy, 
12 


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Pi 

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178 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


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and  I  have  now  left  the  service;  you  don't  catch 
me  going  back.    It  is  horrible ! " 

"What  is  horrible?  The  way  you  have  been 
treated?" 

"Yes,  the  way  I  have  been  treated — and  the 
rest.  We  came  from  France  with  small-pox  aboard, 
eighty  ships  or  more — eleven  of  them  line-of -battle 
ships,  twenty  of  them  frigates,  the  rest  bombs  and 
transports — and  had  awful  weather  of  it.  Small- 
pox aboard,  too ;  buryings  every  day ;  storm  after 
storm.  Off  Table  Island  a  hurricane  caught  us — the 
tempest  was  terrible:  thunder,  lightning,  hail, 
snow ;  and  a  clap  of  cold  to  follow,  so  fierce  that 
the  seas  froze  on  the  forecastle  and  embedded 
anchors  and  chains  and  tackle  and  windlass  and 
everything  within  reach  in  a  six-foot  lump  of  ice. 
The  fleet  was  dispersed — driven  to  smithereens, 
some  of  them.  We  kept  afloat,  and  after  digging 
clear  the  decks  with  pick-axes  went  on  to  the  ren- 
dezvous at  Chebucto." 

"  Is  that  where  you  were  bound  to  !  "  asked  Angel. 

"  I  suppose  so.  Anyhow,  there  we  got,  and 
there  we  cast  anchor  early  last  month,  three  or  four 


THE  TREATY. 


179 


going  overboard  every  day  with  small-pox  in  our 
ship  alone.  And  as  with  our  ship  so  with  the 
others.  As  the  ships  came  straggling  in  they  took 
the  disease  from  us.  We  died  in  dozens.  Some 
ships  came  in  from  the  "West  Indies ;  they  took  the 
disease.  Nothing  but  death,  death.  We  had  not 
been  there  a  week  before  the  Admiral  died  of  apo- 
plexy. A  few  days  afterwards  the  Vice- Admiral 
went  mad,  and  ran  himself  through  with  his  own 
sword.'^ 


"  Is  that  so  ? "  asked  Angel.  "  You  know  Irish- 
men— I  mean  Frenchmen —  " 

"  I  had  rather  be  Irish,  if  it  pleases  ye." 
"Well,   Irish,  then,  are  apt  to  say  what  they 
think  you  want  to  believe.'' 

"  Sure,  you  >'^ant  to  believe  the  truth,  don't  you  ?  " 
"  Yes,  but  we  don't  always  get  it  from  an  Irish- 
man, and  in  the  end  the  Irishman  suffers." 

"  It's  certain  truth,  I  tell  you ;  the  Admiral  was 
the  Due  D'Anville — Duke  of  Anville  that  means — 
once  a  Rochefoucauld,  now  dead  as  a  juddock,  and 
the  Vice- Admiral  was  D'Estournelle ;  he  killed  him- 
self in  a  rage,  it's  my  belief,  because  he  couldn't  get 


Fl 


m 

|1 

•1,  S    •  I 


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180 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


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yt ; 


iiif:. 


J  ;ii. 


his  own  way.  Anyhow,  he  fell  on  his  sword — like 
Saul,  wasn't  it  1 — and  he  died,  like  hundreds  of  us. 
There's  a  man  dying  every  hour  ashore  now." 

"  Were  you  landed  from  the  ships,  then  I  ^ 

"  Yes,  the  officers  made  us  build  barracks,  and 
sent  us  ashore  to  herd  together  and  die.  Little 
good  did  the  barracks  do  us.  I  tell  you,  the  men 
died  in  dozens.  I  could  stand  it  no  longer,  and  so  I 
stole  the  boat  and  fled  to  take  my  chance.  And 
here's  to  your  good  health,  sir ! " 

"  But  why  did  you  not  walk  away  on  the  land 
instead  of  trying  this  dangerous  game  I " 

"The  land  is  it,  you  recommmendl  Sure,  of 
course,  you  know  nothing  about  it.  The  land  is 
worse  than  the  sea." 

"  And  why  so  ? " 

"  The  place  was  a  general  rendezvous.  Not  only 
were  the  ships  there,  but  to  meet  the  ships  and  join 
their  forces  to  those  we  brought  came  crowds  of 
Acadians,  and  Souriquois  Indians.  And  you  may 
guess  what  happened :  the  ships  were  nests  of  small- 
pox, the  barracks  were  stores  of  small-pox,  a  regular 
poison  haunt — and  the  landsmen  and  poor  Indians 


THE  TREATY. 


181 


caught  the  disease  and  spread  it  like  wildfire,  and 
they  are  dying  so  fast  that  they  are  left  unburied 
just  where  they  have  died.  It  is  a  place  of  horrors, 
I  say ;  the  people  are  gathered  there  to  die,  and  when 
a  belated  ship  comes  in  she  brings  a  few  sick,  per- 
haps, and  next  morning  half  her  crew  is  down, 
struck  from  the  greater  mass  of  disease  on  the 
shore." 

"  Is  that  why  the  ships  are  in  such  confusion  ? " 
I  asked. 

"  There  are  no  men  to  work  the  ships,"  said  Cal- 
laghan ;  "  the  men  are  either  dying,  or  burying  each 
other." 

"  It  will  be  pleasant  for  us  if  you  have  brought 
it  with  you." 

"  WeU,  you  needn't  have  picked  me  up.  I  did 
not  ask  you  to.  At  the  same  time,  I  am  much 
obliged  to  you." 

"I  think  I  will  have  a  look  in  at  the  harbor. 
Do  you  know  of  any  reason  why  we  should  not  ?  " 

"  No.  Don't  go  in  too  far,  and  you'll  see  all  you 
want ;  but  you  may  be  caught  in  the  poison  cloud." 

"  I  win  chance  that." 


182 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


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1 : 


if 


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And  during  the  afternoon  we  sneaked  into  the 
harbor,  keeping  close  in  shore  so  as  not  to  be  con- 
spicuous. 

Although  we  did  not  go  very  far  in,  yet  Angel 
saw  enough  to  satisfy  himself  that  my  report  was 
correct.  I  had  seen  the  fleet  from  above,  and  seen 
it  all  at  once ;  from  the  water  we  could  only  catch  a 
glimpse  of  a  few  ships  at  a  time,  but  those  we  did 
see  were  in  a  deplorable  state.  Evidently,  as  Cal- 
laghan  said,  there  were  no  men  to  work  them,  or  to 
make  the  repairs  after  the  stormy  voyage. 

"  All  the  same,"  said  Angel,  "  it  looks  to  me  as 
though  they  might  easily  be  put  into  repair.  Some 
of  them  seem  to  be  quite  empty.  If  it  were  not  for 
the  small-pox,  we  might  run  off  with  one ;  but,  there, 
the  risk  is  too  great,  and  we  have  no  men  to  spare  to 
work  her  with.  I  think  we  had  bettei*  bo  off  to 
Boston  to  report." 

And  with  the  turn  of  the  tide  out  we  went,  the 
French  making  no  sign  to  show  that  our  presence 
had  been  detected. 

Callaghan  continued  free  from  disease,  and  when 
we  reached  Boston  Captain  Angel  took  his  report 


THE  TREATY. 


183 


to  tlio  Governor,  and  introduced  Callaglian  to  tell 
his  story  over  again.  And  the  Irishman,  being  told 
to  consider  himself  at  liberty,  came  down  to  the 
Loo  to  say  good-by  to  his  shipmates,  and  then  re- 
turned on  shore  and  enlisted  for  King  George,  being 
fully  persuaded  to  the  end  of  his  days  that  he  must 
have  had  the  disease  without  knowing  it. 

Of  course  the  New  Englanders  were  jubilant  at 
the  news,  but  the  visitation  was  too  appalling  for 
them  to  make  any  parade  of  their  joy.  The  minis- 
ters took  every  advantage  of  the  occasion:  they 
pointed  out  that  Louisbourg  had  been  captured  in  a 
crusade  and  was  consequently  under  special  protec- 
tion, and  just  as  the  wind  had  ruined  the  Spanish 
armada,  so  had  the  disease  the  French  one. 

And  there  were  many  who  sympathized  with  the 
poor  fellows  crowded  in  this  fatal  spot  to  die,  and 
some  talk  there  was  of  an  effort  to  save  them,  though 
how  that  was  to  be  done  did  not  appear.  One  thing 
was  noticeable :  the  enemy  was  no  longer  spoken  of 
as  bitterly  as  he  had  been. 

At  last  wo  heard  that  the  plague  was  abating, 
but  that  reinforcements  from  Canada  had  arrived 


! 


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1    !  i'. 


184 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


round  Annapolis,  and  a  fleet  was  on  tlie  way  to  join 
them,  for  which  Governor  Mascarene  was  fully  pre- 
pared and  had  two  frigates  at  anchor  off  his  port. 

Then  came  news  that  on  the  12th  of  October 
there  were  great  fires  at  Chebucto,  many  ships  were 
burned,  some  were  sunk,  and  with  twenty-five  ves- 
sels only  the  French  cleared  off.  Then  there  was  a 
long,  heavy  storm  which  drove  twenty-three  of 
these  vessels  many  leagues  to  the  eastward,  and  the 
two  others,  rounding  into  Annapolis,  caught  sight  of 
the  two  frigates  and  bore  off  to  be  seen  no  more. 

The  danger  was  over.  We  had  heard  the  last  of 
the  French  armada,  and  much  thanksgiving  ensued 
thereat. 

Of  my  every-day  life  on  the  Loo  during  all  this 
time  I  need  not  speak.  The  clearing  away  of  the 
French  cloud  caused  a  great  stir  in  trade,  and  we 
had  full  cargoes  for  a  long  time  afterwards,  and  so 
prosperous  were  we  that  we  were  in  a  fitting  mood 
to  enjoy  the  good  news  of  the  year  that  followed 
when  De  la  Jonquiere's  fleet  for  the  recapture  of 
Louisbourg  was  defeated  off  Cape  Finisterre  on  the 
3d  of  May.    Then  it  was  that  Admiral  Anson  and 


THE  TREATY. 


185 


t5> 


our  friend  "Warren  gave  him  a  terrible  belaboring, 
and  even  captured  him  and  his  squadron  complete. 
In  that  famous  action  not  the  least  glorious  part 
was  borne  by  the  Namur,  whose  captain  was  so 
badly  wounded  in  the  shoulder  as  ever  afterwards 
to  carry  his  head  a  little  on  one  side.  This  wry- 
necked  commander,  one  of  the  finest  seamen  who 
ever  sailed  the  sea,  will  appear  in  this  Louisbourg 
imbroglio  in  due  course.  Do  not  let  it  be  forgotten 
that  he  was  here  the  foremost  figure  in  the  fight 
that  ruined  the  French  hope  of  reconquering  Louis- 
bourg by  force  of  arms. 

But  the  fate  of  D'Anville's  fleet  had  directed 
general  attention  to  Chebucto's  beautiful  harbor; 
and  Captain  Ardyne  resolved  to  pay  it  his  long- 
postponed  visit  to  view  his  shadowy  property  and 
prosecute  inquiries  as  to  the  fate  of  Mary's  father. 

What  had  become  of  him  ?  That  he  was  dead 
was  probable ;  but  he  might  be  in  a  French  prison, 
and  even  have  been  carried  to  France.  For  the 
sake  of  his  daughter  it  was  well  that  the  matter 
should  be  cleared  up,  but  how  it  could  affect  us  was 
not  sufficiently  clear. 


li'^ 


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if 

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186 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


w   t 


Ir 


Again,  however,  there  was  a  delay.  The  dis- 
turbed state  of  Nova  Scotia,  owing  to  French  in- 
trigue with  the  Indians,  made  it  hazardous  to  settle 
out  of  range  of  a  fort  or  block-house,  and  the  news 
of  a  mutiny  in  Cape  Breton,  and  PepperrelPs  re- 
quirement of  more  troops  to  strengthen  the  garri- 
son, led  Captain  Ardyne  to  continue  in  his  com- 
mand and  return  with  a  detachment  to  the  city  he 
knew  so  well.  During  1747  and  1748,  therefore,  he 
was  in  Louisbourg  and  was  frequently  in  the  har- 
bor, owing  to  Angel  finding  constant  freights  to  and 
from  New  England. 

As  occasionally  happens  in  this  world,  the  long- 
est -way  round  proved  to  be  the  shortest  way  to  the 
destination.  One  day,  while  the  Loo  lay  at  anchor 
off  the  quay,  there  was  a  report  that  a  body  of 
French  and  Indians  had  appeared  in  the  neighbor- 
ing woods.  At  the  news  a  scouting  party  was 
organized  under  the  command  of  my  father,  who 
took  with  him  Captain  Angel  and  me  and  went  off 
on  the  trail. 

On  the  second  day  we  reached  the  Bras  d'Or, 
the  great  central  lake  or  arm  of  the  sea  which  prac- 


T 


THE  TREATY. 


187 


1% 


tically  divides  Cape  Breton  into  halves.  As  the 
men  were  pitching  their  camp  by  the  lakeside  we 
were  astonished  to  see  a  solitary  canoe  approaching 
from  the  opposite  shore.  When  just  beyond  gun- 
shot the  Indian  stood  up  and  held  his  hands  aloft  in 
sign  of  peace,  and  the  signal  being  answered  from 
the  shore,  the  canoe  came  on ;  and  out  of  her,  fear- 
less, and  with  an  air  of  importance,  Pujook  stepped 
on  to  the  land. 

*'  Why,  it  is  the  Cormorant ! "  said  I. 

*'  The  bird  of  ill-omen,"  said  Angel.  ^'  Our  sweet 
prophetic  crow ! " 

Pujook  stood  still  on  the  beach,  and,  making  a 
sign  that  all  was  well,  produced  from  his  belt  a  thin 
strip  of  deerskin,  on  which  were  certain  written 
characters. 

Fortunately,  one  of  the  half-breeds  in  the  party 
understood  Micmac,  and  at  Captain  Ardyne's  re- 
quest asked  Pujook  what  news  he  brought,  and 
why  he  was  there. 

"  The  message  I  bring  is  written,"  said  Pujook. 
"  It  should  be  read." 

He  handed  it  to  me,  and  I  saw  such  a  combina- 


' 


:.r 


.t  » 


F  ! 


n\\ 


m 


m 


i 


vt'l 


m 


188 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


* ' 

'!  ;.ti; 

;;;JI|H 

iriili  aMH 

'   '  :'■', 

1  IhH 

^i  M 

tion  of  characters,  known  and  unknown,  as  had 
never  met  my  eyes  before. 

"  Wliat  language  is  this  ? "  I  asked. 

"Chinese  to  me,"  said  Angel,  looking  over  my 
shoulder. 

"It  is  Micmac,"  said  the  haU-breed.  "The 
Frenchman  Le  Clercq  taught  the  Micmacs  to  write 
hke  that  years  and  years  ago.'' 

"  And  does  the  Cormorant,  who  hates  the  French, 
carry  a  Frenchman's  letter  ? "  asked  I. 

"It  is  a  Micmac's  letter,"  said  the  half-breed. 
"  Who  is  it  from  ? "  he  asked  Pujook. 

"  It  is  the  writing  of  Eyes-that-weep,  from  whom 
I  come." 

"  Oh !  "  said  Peter  Ardyne.  "  That  is  what  has 
become  of  Eyes-that-weep,  is  it!  She  has  become 
Madame  Cormorant,  I  suppose  ? " 

"Is  Eyes-that-weep  the  squaw  of  the  Cormo- 
rant ? "  asked  the  half-breed. 

"  She  is,"  said  Pujook. 

"Oh,  w^uit  a  falling  off  was  there!"  said 
Captain  Ardyne.  "But  what  does  the  letter 
say?" 


THE  TREATY. 


189 


id 

er 


"  I  cannot  read  it/'  said  the  half-breed,  "  though 
I  know  it  is  written  in  Le  Clercq  Micmac." 

"Perhaps  the  Cormorant  can  obUge.  Let  him 
have  a  peck  at  it,"  said  Angel. 

*'  Can  you  read  this  I "  asked  the  half-breed. 

"  I  cannot  read  the  scrawl,"  said  Pujook,  "  but  I 
know  the  message." 

"  What  is  it,  then  1 " 

"  It  is  this :  The  French  and  the  Indians  are  no 
longer  on  the  war-path.  Over  the  great  water  the 
Frenchman  and  the  Englishman  have  agreed  a 
peace.  The  chiefs  have  met,  and  the  white  flag  is 
to  fly  again  on  Louisbourg;  and  the  Englishman 
will  return  to  his  own  home.    The  news  is  new." 

"  I  should  think  it  was,"  said  Angel. 

"  The  sailor  does  not  believe  the  Cormorant  ? " 

"  No,"  said  Angel,  "  I  do  not." 

"  But  it  may  be  true,"  said  Captain  Ardyne. 

"  It  cannot  be,"  said  Angel.  "  If  that  is  all  the 
man  can  make  out  of  the  scrawl,  he  had  better  have 
left  it  behind  him." 

"Who  gave  you  the  news?"  asked  Captain 
Ardyne. 


II  ii 


f 


Igj^HH 


j 


190 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


"  It  matters  not,"  said  Pujook.  "  It  is  true.  I 
overheard  it ;  and  Eyes-that-weep  wrote  it." 

"Then  how  about  the  prophecy  of  the  great 
medicine-man?"  asked  I. 

Pujook  looked  astonished  for  an  instant  as  this 
was  translated  to  him. 

"  The  end  is  not  yet,"  he  said.  "  When  you  are 
again  in  Louisbourg  you  will  find  my  news  is  true. 
Hasten  back.  Those  you  seek  are  far  across  the 
lake.  They  left  here  in  canoes  before  this  time 
yesterday." 

"  That  is  likely,"  said  Angel,  "  but  the  other  is 
not." 

"  It  is  true,"  said  Pujook,  as  if  for  the  last  time. 
"The  Englishman  will  again  have  to  war  against 
Louisbourg,  and  then  will  come  the  end." 

"  Enough,"  said  Captain  Ardyne ;  "  we  will  re- 
turn to-morrow  and  inquire  into  this.  The  enemy 
has  evidently  escaped  us.  AVill  the  Cormorant 
honor  us  by  accepting  our  hospitality  ? " 

The  Cormorant  would,  and  did  for  about  half 
an  hour,  during  which  time  he  was  too  busy  to 
talk;   and  then,  with  an  expression  of  regret,  he 


THE  TREATY. 


191 


rose  to  go,  explaining  that  liis  voyage  lay  far 
across  the  water,  and  that  a  storm  might  be  ex- 
pected about  midnight,  in  which  he  had  rather  not 
be  caught. 

As  he  entered  his  canoe  he  beckoned  to  me,  and 
shaking  hands  with  me,  drew  me  down  so  as  to 
speak  three  words  in  my  ear.    They  were : 

"  Kervan.    Found.    Kebec." 

And  releasing  my  hand,  he  paddled  off  across 
the  lake. 

"When  I  told  my  father  what  he  had  said,  the 
captain  laughed. 

"Ah!  Pujook  is  learning  English!  By  the 
time  we  take  Louisbourg  for  good  he  will  be  able  to 
do  without  an  interpreter ! " 

That  night  the  storm  came,  as  Pujook  had  fore- 
told. When  we  returned  to  the  city  it  seemed  as 
though  the  shadow  of  death  were  on  it.  Every 
one  was  gloomy  and  ashamed.  The  news  of  the 
surrender  was  true.  All  our  bloodshed  and  trial 
had  been  in  vain.  Our  mother-country  had  sold  us. 
Louisbourg  and  the  rest  of  Cape  Breton  Island  was 
to  be  given  back  to  France  in  exchange  for  a  ped- 


iil 


Iff 


192 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


dling  little  town  in  India  called  Madras.  Madras 
indeed !     Whoever  cared  a  dollar  for  Madras  ? 

Deep  was  the  disgust  of  every  one  in  the  Colo- 
nies at  the  disgraceful  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle — a 
peace  at  any  price,  of  the  most  degraded  character. 

But  the  giving  up  of  Louisbourg  to  its  builders 
was  not  without  some  consolation  to  Captain 
Ardyne. 

I  heard  the  strangest  possible  news  in  Boston 
next  time  I  went  there.  As  Louisbourg  was  to  be 
given  up,  it  had  been  decided  to  make  another 
stronghold  in  those  seas. 

And  of  all  places  in  America,  the  British  Gov- 
ernment had  chosen  Chebucto,  to  the  advantages  of 
which  attention  had  been  called  by  D'Anville's  dis- 
aster. 

I  supposed  father  would  go  there  at  last.  And 
he  did. 

On  the  2d  of  July,  1749,  the  sloop-of-war  Sphinx, 
with  Governor  Edward  Cornwallis  on  board,  sailed 
into  what  is  now  known  as  one  of  the  finest  har- 
bors in  North  America.  In  a  fortnight  she  was 
surrounded  by  transports  bringing  settlers  and  a 


1 


THE  TREATY. 


193 


garrison  from  Great  Britain  and  Cape  Breton.  And 
Captain  Ardyno  was  present  when  the  British  ^ag 
was  hoisted  with  much  ceremony,  and  the  world 
was  informed  that  Nova  Scotia  was  to  be  taken 
seriously  in  hand  as  a  colony,  and  that  its  capital 
was  no  longer  Annapolis  Royal,  but  the  favored 
city  to  be  built  on  that  spot  which,  then  and  there, 
after  the  then  President  of  the  Board  of  Trf.de,  was 
officially  named — not  Chebucto  but — Halifax. 


ras 
a 


13 


Mi't 


till 


'V 


: 


n 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE  CAPTURE. 

THINK  it  is  best  to  say  but  little  of  tiie  six 
years  that  followed.  They  were  of  much 
value  to  me  in  many  ways,  but  with  one  ex- 
ception the  events  crowded  into  them  had 
little  to  do  with  the  strange  story  I  set  myself  to 
tell  when  I  began  these  memoirs. 

Let  me,  then,  make  a  fresh  start  when  I  was  a 
young  man  of  twenty-two,  and  master  and  owner 
of  the  old  brigantine,  whose  late  proprietor,  and 
always  my  good  friend,  was  in  business  at  Halifax 
as  a  general  merchant. 

The  McRae  money  was  still  a  mystery,  the  solu- 
tion of  which  was  given  up  as  almost  hopeless.  My 
father  had  done  well  by  his  choice  of  Chebucto,  or 
Halifax,  as  it  was  now  called.  He  had  made  good 
his  claim  to  one  of  the  best  patches  of  land  close  to 
the  city,  and  was  a  prosperous  farmer.    And  Mary 


THE  CAPTURE. 


195 


Kervan,  the  owner  of  the  adjoining  claim,  was  now 
treated  as  liis  adopted  daughter  until  she  became 
his  daughter-in-law.  That  is  the  most  delicate  way  I 
can  think  of  in  which  to  recor*^  the  most  important 
item  of  the  events  of  those  six  years ;  and  one  of  the 
few  items  I  never  had  cause  to  regret.  Poor  Mary  I 
Her  father's  fate  remained  a  mystery.  All  that  was 
known  of  it  was  contained  in  those  three  words : 

"  Kervan.     Found.     Kebec." 

To  Quebec  I  had  been  in  course  of  trade,  but 
nothing  had  I  learned  of  Kervan.  And  I  had  sought 
for  the  Cormorant  in  vain.  He  had  not  been  seen 
since  he  had  disappeared  across  the  Bras  d'Or ;  and 
with  him  had  vanished  Eyes-that-weep. 

The  French  were  in  possession  of  Cape  Breton, 
or  Isle  Royale,  as  they  called  it,  and  had  all  along 
been  causing  trouble  in  Nova  Scotia,  fighting  the 
English  through  genuine  Indians,  and  whites  dis- 
guised as  Indians,  whom  they  never  ceased  to  urge 
on  in  such  a  way  "  as  always  to  make  the  English 
appear  as  the  aggressors,"  in  accordance  with  in- 
structions received  from  Paris,  as  discovered  a  few 
years  afterwards. 


( ||. 


i 


196 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


■  ; 


*.S 


And  Abbe  Louis  Joseph  le  Loutre — mark  him 
— was  now  in  receipt  of  a  pension  of  eight  hundred 
livres  for  political  services,  and  had  almost  reached 
the  end  of  his  detestable  career.  He  had  even  been 
burning  his  own  chapels  in  the  sight  of  all  men,  to 
terrify  his  superstitious  flock,  and  I  had  just  heard 
of  him,  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  and  with  a  pipe  in  his 
mouth,  working  at  the  defences  of  Beausejour,  near 
Chignecto,  which  was  soon  to  be  captured  and  be- 
come Fort  Cumberland. 

To  the  relief  of  us  all  at  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia 
was  now  at  peaco,  thanks  chiefly  to  the  expulsion 
of  those  rascals,  the  Acadians  of  Grand  Pre,  mostly 
a  lazy,  quarrelsome,  drunken  gang,  often  masquerad- 
ing in  paint  and  feathers,  and  yet  claiming  to  be  as 
innocent  as  lambs.  Three  hundred  of  these  hypo- 
crites were  taken  at  Beausejour  with  arms  in  their 
hands — a  nice  exhibition  of  inriocence.  To  the  com- 
fort of  all  Nova  Scotia,  these  hypocrites  of  Grand 
Pr6  were  turned  out  of  their  miserable  hovels  and 
deported  in  detachments  to  the  older  Atlantic  States, 
where  their  descendants  now  seem  to  do  well. 

But  enough  of  reminiscence.    My  ship,  on  the 


THE  CAPTURE. 


197 


ie 


day  I  recommence  my  story,  was  riding  in  the  har- 
bor, her  trade  being  chiefly  between  Boston,  Louis- 
bourg,  and  Halifax,  which,  in  spite  of  all  the  French 
could  do,  had  become  the  most  thriving  port  in 
North  America. 

I  had  merely  put  in  for  a  couple  of  days,  having 
some  goods  for  An*^  3I,  which  proved  an  excuse  for 
calling  on  my  father  at  the  farm  and  seeing  some 
one  else. 

"Is  trade  any  better  at  Louisbourg?"  asked  my 
father. 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  but  not  much,  as  far  as  the 
genuine  trade  goes.  The  transfer  trade  flourishes 
more  than  ever.  Most  of  the  goods  that  go  to 
I<Vance  come  from  Boston  and  New  York  as  usual, 
and  are  shipped  into  French  bottoms,  like  the 
cargo  I  now  have  will  be.  Last  voyage  I  saw  thirty 
Boston  ships  at  anchor  in  the  harbor." 

"  That  is  not  a  healthy  state  of  things.  It  will 
be  found  out  some  day." 

"  Well,  what  matters  it  ?  The  French  have  the 
carrying  trade  across  the  Atlantic.  That  is  healthy 
enough,  is  it  not?" 


■M 


i.  m 


f'(. 


V  ( 


198 


ENGLISHMAN'S  EtAVEN. 


"  Louisbourg  cannot  last  on  those  terms,  and 
neither  can  the  French  in  America  if  there  be  no 
cultivation  of  the  land.  The  whole  thing  is  a  de- 
ception." 

"  None  of  us  will  be  sorry,"  said  I ;  "  the  sooner 
they  go  to  the  wall  the  better.  If  we  could  only 
get  the  word  from  across  the  water,  we  could  throw 
them  out  ourselves." 

"Eh?"  said  Captain  Ardyne,  laughing.  "I 
think  we  should  leave  them  alone  at  present." 

"  There  will  be  open  war  soon,  as  sure  as  we  are 
talking  here,"  said  I.  "  What  is  all  this  Nova  Scotia 
trouble  but  war?  What  is  this  defence  of  Chig- 
necto  and  Beausejour  but  war?  What  is  that  med- 
dlesome priest  but  a  general  in  disguise  ? " 

"  All  the  more  reason  for  your  going  elsewhere 
than  to  Louisbourg,"  said  my  father.  "  I  think  that 
game  had  best  be  given  up.  It  may  be  profitable, 
but  it  is  hazardous,  and  at  any  moment  you  may 
suffer  loss." 

"  I  was  thinking  this  would  be  my  last  voyage." 

And  it  proved  to  be  so,  but  in  a  way  unexpected 
by  me. 


THE  CAPTURE. 


199 


Two  hours  afterwards  I  was  alone  with  Mary. 

"  Good-bye,"  said  Mary,  "  and  mind  what  I  have 
said.  There  are  dreadful  tales  about  what  is  going 
to  happen,  so  do  be  careful,  sir.  You  have  not 
only  yourself  to  think  of  now — and  your  father,  of 
course — but  you  have  to  think  of  me  a  little,  you 
know." 

"  A  little ! " 

"  Yes.  Just  a  very,  very  little ;  and  so  take  care 
to  come  back  soon." 

"  The  sooner  the  better." 

"  Oh  yes  !  I  dare  say !  It  is  all  very  well !  If 
you  cared  for  me  very  much  you  would  not  be  ruur 
ning  into  danger  now." 

And  Mary  pouted  in  a  playful  expression  of  con- 
tempt, an  expression  she  failed  to  retain  more  than 
a  moment,  for  a  reason  I  need  not  stop  to  particu- 
larize. 

"  Well,  I  suppose  you  must  go,  though  you  do 
not  stop  nearly  as  long  as  you  might — consider- 
ing—  " 

"  Considering  that  we  must  live,  Mary.  All  I 
have  at  present  is  you  and  the  old  brigantine." 


■ 


ii 


\  1 


U!] 


D1 


.  s      *■; 


200 


englishman's  haven. 


■    s 

^fif'.r 

J 

;! 

Ml  ^m\ 

^,^1 

H 

> 

BH 

1 

IH 

j^H 

M' 

j^H 

Ib 

1 

1 

"  Bother  the  brigantine !  You  seem  to  think  as 
much  of  the  Loo  as  you  do  of  me ! " 

"Oh!  Fie!  I  never  thought  you  could  be 
jealous ! " 

"  Jealous  of  an  old  ship  ?  But  I  am !  And  if 
that  old  ship  does  not  bring  my  Felix  back  before 
long,  I'U~" 

"What?" 

"  I'll  have  the  old  creature  broken  up !     There !  ^ 

"  You  will  ? "  said  I,  with  a  certain  signal  in  the 
sign  language,  even  more  widely  known  than  that 
of  the  American  Indians.  "  There !  In  a  fortnight 
you  will  be  blessing  the  old  Loo  and  calling  her 
your  best  friend." 

"  Somebody  thinks  a  good  deal  of  himself — 
does  he  not  ?  Well,  Mr.  Conceited,  I  would  rather 
bless  her  than  break  her.  She  has  been  a  true 
friend  to  us  all.    And  so  good — good-bye ! " 

And  I  was  off.  Soon  I  had  taken  my  last  look 
at  the  citadel  and  the  only  church  that  then  existed 
in  Nova  Scotia.  The  wind  was  in  the  westward, 
and  in  the  bright  sinking  sun  the  wooded  banks  of 
the  harbor  were  looking  their  freshest  and  best,  as 


THE  CAPTURE. 


201 


the  old  brigantine,  smart  and  serviceable  as  of  yore, 
slipped  out  into  the  Atlantic.  At  four  o'clock  she 
was  off  the  East  Nab ;  at  five  o'clock  she  was  abreast 
of  Devil's  Island,  with  the  blue,  swelling  ocean  to  the 
south  of  her,  and  on  her  starboard  quarter  lay  Che- 
bucto  Head ;  in  another  hour  she  had  opened  Cole 
Harbor,  and  by  eight  she  was  off  Chezzetcook.  At 
two  in  the  morning  I  went  on  deck  to  see  in  the 
moonlight  the  long  line  of  the  so-called  gold  district 
of  Tangier,  and  at  noon  next  day  I  was  off  what  is 
now  Cape  Macodome.  Before  evening  closed  in  I 
had  sighted  Cape  Canso,  and  was  in  the  track  of 
the  picturesque  fleet  which  had  carried  the  New 
Englanders  to  victory  in  1745. 

When  I  dropped  anchor  off  Louisbourg  the  Loo 
was  one  of  eleven  merchant  ships  under  British 
colors,  almost  every  one  of  which  lay  alongside  a 
French  vessel  bound  to  some  port  in  France  with 
"  the  products  of  Isle  Roy  ale,"  gathered  ready-made 
from  New  England  cargoes. 

At  the  quay  were  two  storeships  unloading  guns 
and  ammunition  under  guard.  Going  into  the  city, 
I  noticed  more  military  than  usual ;  and  they  were 


!    il 


202 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


m^- 


1.(1 


more  saucy.  Evidently  something  had  leaked  out 
regarding  the  coming  war.  In  the  tavern  I  over- 
heard two  Frenchmen  talking  and  abusing  one  Mr. 
Fox — "  one  Mr.  Fox,"  being  the  Secretary  of  State, 
who  had  recently  persuaded  Parliament  to  vote  an 
increase  of  the  British  navy  and  army — and  think 
ing  the  sooner  I  left  Louisbourg  the  better,  I  went 
to  get  my  papers  passed. 

On  returning  to  the  brigantine  I  noticed  the 
glasses  at  work  on  the  batteries. 

There  was  much  of  what  the  French  call  "  sensa- 
tion." A  frigate  entered  the  port  round  Lighthouse 
Point,  and  saluted  and  signalled  in  a  way  I  had  not 
before  remarked.  She  seemed  to  have  been  in 
action.  Her  sails  and  rigging  were  much  cut  about, 
and  her  foretopmast  was  housed  and  had  a  long 
splinter  out  of  it.  She  passed  up  the  harbor  and 
anchored  off  the  Careening  Wharf,  and  there  was 
much  communicating  with  the  shore. 

In  the  midst  of  it  all  John  Bacon  came  from  his 
schooner  and  told  me  something  of  importance  was 
on  foot  in  the  city.  Shouts  had  been  raised  of 
treachery  and  ^'Down  with    the    English!"     He 


THE  CAPTUKE. 


203 


tnouglit  it  as  well  to  be  ready  to  slip  out,  and  I 
agi'eed  with  him.  If  anything  happened  to  hasten 
our  departure,  we  arranged  to  hoist  our  forestay- 
sails. 

He  then  left  me  to  warn  another  of  his  friends. 
Thinking  the  warning  worth  attention,  I  went 
round  the  ship  to  assure  myself  we  were  fit  for  an 
immediate  start,  and  I  had  the  moorings  prepared 
so  that  nothing  would  delay  us.  And  none  too 
soon. 

In  the  course  of  about  an  hour  after  Bacon  left 
a  gun  was  fired  from  the  Grand  Battery,  and  we 
saw  that  armed  boats  were  putting  off  from  the 
frigates  and  line-of -battle  ships.  I  noticed  one  go 
aboard  the  Welcome^  where  there  was  a  dispute  and 
a  firing  of  pistols,  and  at  the  same  instant  I  saw 
Bacon's  men  hauling  at  the  forestaysail  halliards. 
As  this  was  the  signal  agreed  upon,  I  made  sail 
quickly,  and,  in  the  fresh  breeze  that  had  sprung 
up,  I  slipped  my  cable  and  made  a  dash  for  the  har- 
bor's mouth.  The  Content  ranged  alongside,  and 
Bacon  hailed  me  that  the  French  were  seizing  the 
English  vessels. 


11  ii  i 


Ill 


204 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


There  was  great  confusion  in  the  harbor,  nearly- 
all  our  ships  striving  to  run  for  safety.  But  the 
men-of-war  boats,  coming  in  all  directions,  managed 
to  captr-'e  three  before  they  were  well  under  way. 
Two  of  the  frigates  were  also  making  sail  to  give 
chase  ^u  such  as  escaped.  I  thought  we  should 
clear  off  unchallenged.  But  the  Island  Battery- 
began  to  fire  at  us,  although,  luckily,  the  gunners 
had  no  skill,  and  the  shot  did  us  no  harm. 

The  running  of  the  strait  between  the  battery 
and  the  point  was  exciting  work. 

We  were  abreast  of  Lighthouse  Point,  the  Con- 
tent leading,  when  a  shot  carried  away  her  foremast 
low  down,  and  she  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands,  a 
boat  from  the  battery  taking  possession  of  her. 

There  were  six  vessels  following,  including  the 
Loo.  Two  of  them  besides  the  Content  were  caught 
in  the  strait,  two  were  overhauled  a  short  dis- 
tance out. 

.The  cannon  were  now  going  their  hardest.  It 
was  a  desperate  rush  for  freedom;  the  French 
frigates  in  pursuit,  the  harbor  alive  with  boats 
from  the  shore  and  the  ships,  a  French  mob  on  the 


THE  CAPTURE. 


205 


beach,  shouting  and  gesticulating  as  they  watched 
the  fun. 

The  shot  from  the  forts  began  to  fall  short,  and 
the  bowchasei's  from  the  frigates  then  took  up  the 
tune,  to  which  we  two  impudent  pigmies  had  chosen 
to  dance. 

The  chase  did  not  last  long.  My  companion 
was  the  first  victim. 

A  shot  plumped  into  her  stern  and  wrecked  her 
steering.  I  then  put  my  helm  down  and  tried  to 
beat  my  big  pursuer  on  another  point  of  sailing. 
She  wore  and  followed,  and  as  she  wore  a  shot  from 
her  knocked  over  the  galley  chimney. 

This  was  alarming  but  not  dangerous. 

I  held  on,  my  object  being  to  reach  a  bank  of 
fog  which  lay  ahead.  There  was  a  chance  of  escape 
in  the  fog,  but  it  was  a  poor  one. 

I  had  the  gun  cleared,  trusting  some  good  Prov- 
idence might  attend  me.  And  as  the  fog  closed 
over  us  I  fired. 

A  curious  proceeding  I  have  come  to  think  this, 
but  an  expression  of  regret  can  do  no  good  now. 
I  was  sorry  for  it,  and  there  is  an  end  of  it.    A  shot 


^^^ 


I 


'ffl" 


206 


englishman's  haven. 


out  of  a  fog  was  a  trusting  to  Providence  worthy 
of  one  of  Pepperrell's  crusaders. 

Alas !  Wo  were  no  sooner  in  the  fog  than  we 
were  through  it.  It  was  a  mere  strip — a  mere  finger 
of  fog  to  mock  at  a  fugitive. 

The  frigate,  of  course,  disappeared  when  we 
entered  the  fog,  and  of  course  we  could  not  see  her 
when  we  left  it ;  but  in  a  very  short  time  she  was 
in  sight  again,  having  left  the  fog  behind  her. 

And  what  to  do  I  knew  not. 

I  took  another  shot  at  the  frigate,  which  did  no 
damage. 

And  then  I  gave  her  another,  hoping  to  cripple 
her  foremast.  This  it  did  not,  but  it  drew  out  the 
Frenchman's  fire,  who  gave  me  two  shots,  one  of 
which  started  a  kevel  and  the  other  shivered  the 
bitts.  Another  aimed  high  splintered  a  cheek  and 
knocked  a  bee  off  the  bowsprit.  Another  cut  my 
gaff's  throat. 

And  finally,  seeing  all  hope  of  escape  at  an  end, 
I  surrendered. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


THE  PRISON. 

[HEN  I  reached  the  frigate's  deck  I  found  the 
French  captain  more  amused  than  angry  at 
my  performance. 

"  Ma  foi ! "  said  the  Frenchman,  stroking 
his  chin.  "It  is  not  an  escape;  it  is  an  esca- 
pade." 

I  bowed. 

"  To  whom  does  your  brigantine  belong  ? '» 

"  To  me,  monsieur,"  I  said. 

"  And  what  is  your  cargo  ? " 

"  I  had  just  discharged  it." 

"  And  the  money  ? " 

"  Surely,"  said  I,  "  you  will  not  seize  that?" 

"  Ah ! "  said  the  captain ;  "  it  is  the  fortune  of 
war." 

"  It  is  my  fortune !    What  do  you  mean  by  war  ? 
Is  war  declared?" 


i  fl 


1  ■ 


m 


208 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


Tho  Frenchman  raised  his  finger,  and  said  good- 
naturedly  : 

"  Ah,  monsieur !  Take  advice  from  an  enemy, 
if  you  do  not  take  it  from  a  friend.  When  you  are, 
as  you  are,  a  prisoner,  do  not  show  anger.  It  spoils 
all.  You  have  done  the  best  for  your  part,  and  I 
admire  your  courage,  and  laugh  at  your  audacity ; 
and  we  need  not  quarrel.  I  will  take  you  back  to 
Louisbourg.  There  you  can  argue  as  you  please, 
but  do  not  argue  here.  As  for  war  being  declared, 
I  know  not.  My  orders  were  to  catch  you,  and  I 
have  caught  you;  and  at  no  cost  beyond  some 
powder,  a  few  balls,  and  a  little  piece  of  epaulette, 
which  you  tore  off  my  shoulder  by  that  random 
shot  out  of  the  fog —  " 

"  Eeally,  monsieur,"  said  I,  "  I  am  very  sorry —  " 

"  Pardon  !  "  said  the  Frenchman.  "  Enough !  I 
am  content.  Say  no  more.  I  see  you  are  a  brave 
man.  I,  for  myself,  will  make  no  profit  out  of  your 
misfortune.     That  is  all  I  can  say." 

But  all  French  officers  were  not  as  Captain  La- 
lande.  When  I  arrived  at  Louisbourg  I  was  ordered 
to  be  sent  on  board  one  of  the  line-of-battle  ships. 


THE  PRISON. 


209 


whose  captain  took  a  very  different  view  of  my  pro- 
ceedings, and  at  once  put  me  in  irons  as  a  danger- 
ous chai'acter,  and  ordered  mo  to  the  cells. 

The  hold  of  a  French  line-of -battle  ship  in  those 
days  was  just  as  horrible  in  its  odors  and  vapors  as 
the  hold  of  Her  Majesty \s  ship  Thunder,  in  which 
Smollett  sends  to  sea  a  certain  surgeon's  mate.  The 
cell  in  which  I  found  myself  was  like  a  hollow,  pu- 
trid cheese  in  touch  and  smell;  it  was  many  feet 
below  the  water — slimy,  noisome,  and  rat-haunted. 

The  rats,  by  their  constant  gnawing,  were  a  sort 
of  companions  to  me.  The  light  from  the  lantern 
shining  through  the  peephole  only  served  to  make 
the  darkness  darker.  The  food  to  me  was  hateful ; 
the  water  was  ropy.  In  this  dreadful  hole  I  spent 
a  month.  Most  of  that  time  I  knew  we  were  at  sea, 
but  no  information  could  I  get  as  to  whore  I  was 
going,  or  why  I  was  thus  carried  off.  When  I  was 
taken  up  to  daylight,  so  weak  and  ill  that  I  could 
not  stand,  I  found  we  were  anchored  in  a  broad 
river,  narrowed  just  above  us  by  a  lofty  cape  on  the 
side  of  which  clustered  a  picturesque  city.  In  front 
was  a  fort ;  above  it  was  another  fort  cut  in  the 


I 


210 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


solid  rock,  as  I  afterwards  found ;  and  above  all  was 
a  citadel  with  the  lilied  flag  on  the  staff. 

"  Why,  this  is  Quebec !  "  I  said,  recognizing  it 
at  once,  for  in  the  six  years  I  had  twice  voyaged 
up  the  St.  Lawrence. 

I  became  insensible,  and  I  knew  nothing  that 
happened  for  some  weeks.  When  I  began  to  be 
conscious  of  my  surroundings  I  found  myself  in  bed 
in  a  sort  of  hospital.  The  people  w^ere  kind  to  me, 
but  did  not  encourage  my  asking  them  questions. 

I  was  still  at  Quebec. 

"  Why  am  I  here  ? "  I  asked  my  nurse. 

In  broken  English  she  replied : 

"  You  are  prisoner  of  war.." 

As  soon  as  I  was  convalescent  I  was  removed 
from  these  pleasant  surroundings  and  taken  to  the 
prison,  w^here  from  one  of  the  other  prisoners  I 
learned  the  story  of  the  capture  of  the  Alcide  and 
the  Lys,  which  had  had  so  direful  an  influence  on 
my  fortunes. 

I  heard  that  on  the  8th  of  June  Admiral  Bos- 
cawen  had  fallen  in  with  four  French  sail  of  the 
line  and  chased  them.     After  a  pursuit  lasting  two 


THE  PRISON. 


211 


days  the  sixty-gun  ship  T)nnl:b%  commanded  by 
Black  Dick  Howe,  ranged  up  alongside  the  sixty- 
four-gun  ship  Alcide  and  cannonaded  h^^  so  fiercely 
that  on  the  Torhay  appearing  the  i/  ..i  Lehman  sur- 
rendered. The  Lys^  another  French  sixty-four,  was 
taken  in  the  course  of  the  same  running  battle,  and 
a  third  ship  only  escaped  capture  by  flight  in  the 
fog. 

It  was  this  vessel  that  I  had  seen  enter  Louis- 
bourg,  to  inform  the  Governor  that  the  Seven 
Years'  War  had  commenced,. 

The  day  after  I  learned  this,  an  oldish  man  I 
had  not  before  seen  approached  me  and  remarked 
on  the  fineness  of  the  weather.  Just  then  a  priest 
passed  the  open  gate.  My  companion  asked  me  if 
I  knew  who  it  was.  "  That,"  said  he,  "  is  the  fight- 
ing abbe.  Monsieur  le  Loutre." 

On  my  asking  what  the  abbe  was  doing  in 
Quebec,  I  was  told  that  the  French  had  lost  Beau- 
sejour  and  that  the  abbe  had  escaped  the  night 
before  the  capitulation,  disguised  as  an  Indian,  as 
otherwise  he  would  have  assuredly  been  hanged  for 
his  crimes. 


il  ■ 


ii 


IIP. 


I,  "f 


I 


I 


.^ 


212 


englishman's  haven. 


I  would  have  inquired  further  as  to  this,  but  we 
were  then  called  in,  and  for  some  time  no  opportu- 
nity offered  of  renewing  the  conversation.  I  did 
not  meet  my  companion  again  for  many  months, 
during  which  I  wrote  three  times  to  Halifax  inform- 
ing my  people  of  my  whereabouts,  and  heard  noth- 
ing in  return,  for  all  my  letters  miscarried — were,  I 
supposed,  stopped  at  Quebec. 

In  May  next  year,  1756,  the  people  of  Canada 
were  greatly  excited  at  the  arrival  of  a  new  and 
promising  commander  of  the  forces  in  succession  to 
Baron  Dieskau,  who  had  been  defeated  and  capt- 
ured by  William  Johnson,  Admiral  Warren^s 
nephew.  The  new  commander  was  the  celebrated 
Montcalm.  Soon  after  his  arrival  an  inspection  of 
the  prisoners  took  place  for  some  reason,  and  among 
the  officers  who  were  in  attendance  on  Governor 
Vaudreuil  was  Captain  Lalande. 

I  noticed  the  captain  looking  hard  at  me,  and  as 
the  company  were  departing  he  came  up  and  said : 
"  Ah,  is  it  you,  monsieur,  the  master  of  the  saucy 
brigantine  ?    What  have  you  done  to  be  here  ? " 

I  told  him  how  I  had  been  treated  on  the  line-of- 


P  lil' 


THE  PRISON. 


213 


-of- 


battle  ship,  to  which  he  replied :  "  Ah !  There  has 
been  an  error,  it  seems  to  me,  I  will  ask  about 
you.'' 

Two  days  afterwards  I  was  removed  to  the 
citadel — a  much  pleasanter  place. 

The  first  evening  of  my  arrival,  while  I  was 
on  the  ramparts  under  observation,  looking  round 
on  the  beautiful  landscape,  I  was  sent  for  by  a 
cavalry  officer,  who,  I  understood,  was  Captain  de 
Bougainville,  the  aide-de-camp  of  the  Marquis  de 
Montcalm. 

A  great  man  was  this  De  Bougainville,  then  aid- 
de-camp  to  Montcalm.  He  had  been  a  lawyer ;  he 
was  now  a  soldier.  In  time  he  became  a  sailor,  an 
admiral,  and  a  circumnavigator. 

"  Since  when  have  you  been  prisoner.  Monsieur 
Ardyne?"  asked  De  Bougainville. 

"  Since  June  last  year,  monsieur." 

"  Why  have  you  not  been  exchanged  ?  Do  you 
know  ?  " 

"  I  have  always  been  kept  back  from  exchange 
as  though  by  special  orders." 

"  Have  you  no  friends,  no  relations  ? " 


I 


If  ;'i| 


r 


214 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


I       I 


"  I  have  written  letters  but  have  had  no  replies." 
"  Captain  Lalande,  who  left  Quebec  the  day  be- 
fore yesterday,  mentioned  your  name  to  me,  and 
told  me  of  your  escapade.  But,  unfortunately,  wo 
are  not  in  a  position  to  be  of  service  to  you  as  offi- 
cials. Officially  I  may  do  something;  but  it  is 
difficult.  The  governor-general  has  given  orders 
regarding  you,  at  the  report  of  the  captain  of  the 
vessel  who  used  you  so  rigorously.  Of  course  I 
can  apologize  for  your  treatment,  which  does  not 
seem  to  me  to  have  been  just,  but  my  apology — and 
I  have  permission  to  add  to  it  that  of  Captain  La- 
lande, who  regrets  he  should  have  unwittingly  aided 
in  procuring  you  such  treatment — is  merely  the  ex- 
pression of  private  opinion.  There  may  be  reasons 
of  state  in  your  case,  of  which  we  have  no  knowl- 
edge, but  which  doubtless  are  known  to  Monsieur 
de  Vaudreuil.  One  thing,  however,  I  can  do.  If 
you  will  at  once  write  a  letter  to  your  friends,  I 
will  do  my  best  that  your  friends  shall  receive  it. 
It  is  for  that  reason  I  sent  for  you.  I  need  scarcely 
say  the  letter  should  not  give  any  military  news. 
Let  it  be  merely  private;  and  seal  it — I  can  un- 


111' 


i 


lit'  xfiiod  af  Ihi'  door  (iiid  smokrd.  ic/iilr   I  irroti-  /loinr, 


I'-.   "i 


m 


- 

i 

'i 


ik 


THE  PRISON. 


215 


derstand  you  would  not  like  every  one  to  read  it 
— and  let  it  be  ready  for  me  in  an  hour.  Stay ! 
Write  it  here.  It  will  be  in  order.  This  is  a  mili- 
tary station  and  not  a  civil  one.  Here  you  are  in 
our  charge,  and  we  are  responsible  for  your  safe 
keeping.  At  yonder  table  you  will  find  paper,  ink, 
wax.  Remember!  On  your  honor,  no  news  that 
may  be  serviceable  to  our  enemy.  Keep  clear  of 
that,  and  Monsieur  de  Montcalm  will  pass  your 
letter,  I  will  answer  for  it.  We  soldiers  may  not  be 
statesmen,  but  we  can  be  gentlemen." 

And  De  Bougainville  rose  with  the  least  possible 
rattle  of  his  elaborate  accoutrements;  and  stood  at 
the  door  and  lighted  his  pipe,  and  smoked  while  I 
wrote  home. 

When  the  letter — a  short  one — was  ready,  the 
dragoon  took  it. 

"  Monsieur,"  said  I,  with  some  feeling,  "  I  thank 
you  sincerely.    I  can  say  no  more." 

"That  is  enough,"  said  De  Bougainville,  with 
a  bow.    "  The  letter  shall  go." 

Two  months  afterwards  I  received  a  letter  in 
reply  from  my  father,  enclosing  one  from  Maiy.    I 


T^ 


11 ! 


216 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


need  scarcely  say  I  had  a  high  opinion  of  Monsieur 
de  Bougainville,  as  I  have  still.  That  opinion  was 
not  diminished  when  on  the  following  Sunday  I 
was  suddenly  removed  under  guard  to  my  old 
quarters  in  the  prison.  I  there  learned  for  the  first 
time  of  the  conflict  that  was  in  existence  between 
the  civil  and  military  authorities.  To  be  a  friend 
of  Montcalm  was  to  be  an  enemy  of  the  governor- 
general,  a  state  of  things  that  could  only  be  satis- 
factory to  those  with  whom  France  was  on  ill  terris. 

The  mystery  of  my  detention  was,  it  appears  to 
me  now,  a  very  open  one ;  and  often  I  cannot  help 
agreeing  with  the  French  concerning  it. 

I  ^  ctS  supposed  to  have  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  all  things  concerning  Louisbourg,  and  would 
therefore  be  a  guide  worth  having  to  any  expedi- 
tion my  country  might  undertake  against  it.  And 
as  rumors  of  such  expeditions  were  frequent,  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  official  mind  took  no 
heed  of  private  opinions,  even  though  "  officiously  " 
urged  by  a  few  soldiers  and  sailors. 

But  there  I  was,  doomed  to  stay  in  Quebec  until 
the  end  of  the  war ;  and,  indeed,  I  was  frankly  told 


1^- 


THE  PRISON. 


217 


that  such  would  be  my  fate.  Eemembering  the 
advice  of  good  Captain  Lalande,  I  did  not  show 
anger;  but  I  began  to  look  about  for  means  of 
escape,  and  lost  no  opportunity  of  learning  any- 
thing that  might  enable  me  to  get  away.  In  the 
prison  I  was  again  accosted  by  the  man  who  had 
pointed  out  Le  Loutre  to  me.  It  was  on  an  after- 
noon after  a  day  or  two  of  wet  that  we  spoke,  the 
weather,  as  usual,  leading  on  to  the  conversation. 

"Your  name  is  Ardyne,"  said  the  man.  "Are 
you  of  kin  co  Andrew  Ardyne  of  Glasgow  ? " 

"Andrew  Ardyne  is  dead.  I  am  his  nephew, 
Felix." 

"  My  name  is  Kervan,  John  Kervan.  It  may  be 
you  have  heard  of  me,  may  be  you  have  not  ?  " 

"Heard  of  you?"  said  I,  my  heart  jumping  at 
the  news.  "Heard  of  you?  I  have  been  seeking 
you  for  years.  Your  daughter  Mary  is  to  be  my 
wife — that  is,  if  you  have  no  objection." 

"Well,"  said  Kervan,  smiling,  "that  look  of 
yours  is  quite  enough  warranty.  I  shall  not  stand 
in  the  way." 

"Sir—" 


r,  !. 


J, 
.•ii  ■ 

[«■ 


fH' ; 


II: 


218 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


"Never  mind  that,"  continued  Kervan;  "your 
news  means  much.  It  tells  mo  my  daughter  is  alive 
and  probably  well.  Tell  mo  how  you  came  to  meet 
her." 

"  My  uncle  Andrew  left  my  father  his  property, 
including  the  land  at  Chebucto,  and  that  brought 
us  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." 

"  Did  his  brother  make  no  exception  in  his  will  ? 
Did  your  father  succeed  to  all  his  possessions  ? " 

"  To  all." 

"  Then,"  said  Kervan,  "  I  am  your  father's  debtor 
in  the  sum  of  £5000." 

"  You  1 "  said  I.    "  Did  you  have  that  money  ? " 

"What  money?"  asked  Kervan.  "See  here, 
tell  me  how  you  came  to  find  Mary,  and  I  will  then 
see  how  much  you  know  about  our  business." 

And  then  I  told  him  our  story,  including  the 
Cormorant's  hint  as  to  our  seeking  for  him  in 
Quebec. 

"  And  so,"  said  Kervan,  "  you  know  Pujook  ?  A 
good  Indian  is  Pujook ! " 

"  How  did  he  come  to  take  an  interest  in  your 
affairs'?"  asked  I. 


THE  PRISON. 


219 


"  Now  it  is  my  turn.  I  will  tell  you.  My  daugh- 
ter was  born  in  1737,  while  I  was  living  at  Boston, 
and  things  in  general  were  prospering  with  me. 
But  I  never  cared  to  get  fixed  in  one  place,  like  an 
oyster  on  its  bed,  and  hearing  good  accounts  of 
Nova  Scotia,  I  made  several  fishing  cruises  along 
the  coast,  and  once  or  twice  put  into  the  harbor  of 
Chebucto. 

"It  then  struck  me  as  being  a  place  likely  to 
become  of  consequence  in  the  world,  and  when  a 
few  years  afterwards  I  mentioned  the  matter  to  my 
old  friend  Andrew  Ardyne,  he  agreed  to  lend  me 
£5000  to  add  to  my  £1000  to  purchase  land  in  the 
district,  and  form  a  settlement.  I  was  to  pay  him 
five  per  cent,  for  the  money  until  I  could  pay  him 
more.  Andrew  had  had  a  stroke  of  luck  at  that 
time  from  a  speculation,  and  was  glad  of  the  idea  of 
speculating  on  a  safe  basis  with  the  money  that  had 
come  to  him  unexpectedly." 

"  What  date  was  that  1 "  asked  I. 

"  That  was  in  the  early  part  of  1743.  Leaving 
my  wife  at  Boston  I  went  off  to  Chebucto,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  an  Indian  title  to  two  good- 


(    !'£ 


hi 


220 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


sized  estates  with  well-marked  boundaries,  one  for 
myself  and  one  for  your  uncle.  I  paid  very  little 
for  them,  as  you  may  suppose,  but  no  matter  how 
little  I  paid,  I  had  the  right  to  them,  and  I  sent 
your  uncle  particulars  of  his  estate,  knowing  it 
would  please  him  to  find  that  he  had  landed  security 
for  his  money. 

"Well,  my  wife  died,  as  I  dare  say  you  have 
heard,  and  I  took  my  little  daughter  to  Chebucto, 
and  with  a  few  others  built  huts  and  began  in  the 
usual  way.  The  Indians  were  friendly ;  there  was 
no  difficulty  with  them ;  and  one  day  in  the  fall  of 
the  year,  leaving  Mary  in  charge  of  an  old  woman, 
I  went  off  for  a  few  sundries  I  required  to  Annapo- 
lis Royal. 

"On  my  way  back  with  a  companion,  a 
descending  a  hillside,  we  saw  in  the  wr  al- 

ley below  us  a  party  of  Indians  on  tx..  march. 
They  were  returning  with  prisoners,  the  prison- 
ers being  some  shipwrecked  sailors  they  had  capt- 
ured, four  or  five  soldiers,  and  two  Indian  boys 
who  had  been  cut  off  from  a  tribe  friendly  to  the 
English." 


IHE  PRISON. 


221 


"  Souriquois  ?  "  asked  I. 

"  Yes — that  is  to  say,  the  successful  party  were 
.  mostly  Souriquois.  But  wait.  Among  these  ludians, 
and  evidently  in  command  of  them,  was  a  priest — 
none  other  than  the  vicar-general  of  Acadia,  the  no- 
torious Le  Loutre.  The  prisoners  were  being  roughly 
used.  Most  of  them  were  naked  but  for  a  few  rags, 
and  were  being  driven  as  if  they  were  cattle.  In 
charge  of  the  rear  guard  was  a  big  Indian  with  a 
bunch  of  green  scalps  dangling  at  his  back,  the 
said  scalps  having  been  taken  from  such  of  the 
prisoners  as  had  been  unable  to  keep  pace  with 
the  party,  either  from  injuries  or  want  of  nourish- 
ment." 

"  They  were  killed  to  prevent  them  from  being 
rescued  1 " 

"Yes.  When  we  saw  this  party  pass  we  lay 
close,  and  were  unobserved  by  them.  And  when 
they  reached  a  clearing  a  few  hundred  yards  away 
they  stopped,  and  tying  the  prisoners  to  trees  to 
secure  them,  they  lighted  a  fire,  and  then  all  knelt 
down  while  the  abbe  seemed  to  pray  and  give 
thanks  for  some  success.    While  they  were  engaged 


■ 


II 


til 


K'li   • 


U     \    ■ 


I 


^1 


; ;  I 


•  I 


222 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


in  their  devotions  we  remained  quiet,  being  safe 
from  observation  so  long  as  we  did  not  move. 
After  prayers  they  began  their  pranks,  the  priest 
encouraging  them.  One  of  the  prisoners  was  re- 
leased and  made  to  dance  naked  around  the  fire; 
another  was  released,  but  refused,  and  there  was  a 
short  struggle,  ending  in  the  man  being  stabbed  and 
scalped.  The  sight  of  the  blood  seemed  to  infuriate 
the  savages;  or  perhaps  the  prisoners  taunted 
them.  At  any  rate,  they  set  to  work  to  murder 
their  captives.  One  of  the  Indian  boys  had  his 
head  cleft  by  a  thrown  tomahawk ;  the  other  was 
torn  away  from  the  tree,  and  was  being  stabbed  and 
thrown  on  the  fire ;  and  the  priest  himself,  with 
knife  in  hand,  having  worked  himself  up  into  a 
frenzy,  had  seized  one  of  the  soldiers  by  the  hair 
while  an  Indian  held  him  down,  and  gashing  him 
with  the  kaif e,  was  about  to  tear  the  scalp  off —  " 

"  Is  that  true  ? " 

"  Yes,  it  is.  About  to  tear  the  scalp  off,  I  say, 
when  suddenly  there  was  a  rush  and  a  short  bark- 
ing yell,  and  into  the  camp  leaped  a  score  of  Mic- 
macs,  who  laid  about  them  to  such  good  purpose 


THE  TBISON. 


that  Lo  Loutre  and  those  of  his  men  who  could  get 
away  took  refuge  in  flight." 

"  And  who  were  these  new-comers  ? " 

"They  were  a  party  of  the  unconverted  under 
the  leadership  of  White  Crow,  whose  son  it  was 
that  had  been  killed  by  the  tomahawk.  The  man 
who  had  stabbed  the  other  boy  and  thrown  him  on 
the  fire  ran  past  where  we  were  concealed,  and  I 
shot  him  and  brought  him  down,  and  my  companion 
also  fired  at  a  fugitive,  as  under  the  circumstances 
it  was  the  safest  thing  to  do.  The  man  I  shot  was 
being  chased  by  one  of  the  rescuing  party,  who 
sprung  upon  him  and  killed  him  before  my  eyes. 
He  was  a  sham  Indian,  a  Frenchman  painted  to 
look  like  one.  The  man  who  killed  him  was  the 
father  of  the  boy,  and  had  taken  life  for  life.  It  was 
your  friend  Pujook." 

"The  Cormorant?" 

"  Yes,  it  was  his  son  that  had  been  thrown  on 
the  fire." 

"And  the  other  boy  I" 

"Was  the  son  of  White  Crow  and  Eyes-that- 
weep.    The  two  boys  had  been  a  few  yards  from 


h 


lii 


i'; 


t' 


i 

r 

1 
1 

'■I 

! 

i 
1 

i 

! 
t 

1 

';i!i 


224 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


the  encampment  playing  together  when  the  scouts 
of  Le  Loutre  had  kidnapped  them." 

"  To  convert  them  ? " 

"  Yes — into  meat." 

"  How  horrible ! " 

"  It  was  horrible,  much  more  so  than  I  have 
hinted.  It  was  awful ;  and  I  can  even  now  remem- 
ber the  horror  with  which  the  scene  affected  me. 
Well,  that  is  how  I  came  to  know  Pujook  and  his 
relatives,  and  after  a  most  mournful  scene  I  accom- 
panied them  to  their  camp  at  Chebucto,  and  wit- 
nessed the  burial  ceremonies,  which  were  interrupted 
by  a  desperate  attack  on  us  by  the  indefatigable  Le 
Loutre,  whom  we  drove  off  with  loss.  In  that  fight 
the  most  prominent  part  was  taken  by  the  soldier 
who  had  saved  his  scalp  so  narrowly,  a  certain 
Private  Huggins,  who,  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  priest, 
swore  he  would  have  his  life,  and  nearly  succeeded 
in  doing  so.  While  we  were  in  the  thick  of  the 
battle  an  attack  was  made  on  my  hut  at  the  har- 
bor, and  Mary  would  have  been  carried  off  had  not 
Eyes-that-weep,  forgetful  of  all  the  proprieties  in 
her  character  of  mourning  mother,  made  a  dash  at 


THE  PRISON. 


225 


the  disguised  Frenchman  who  was  dragging  my 
little  girl  along,  and  gripped  him  by  the  throat  till 
White  Crow  cut  him  down." 

"  Yes,  Mary  has  told  me  about  it." 

"  Le  Loutre  did  not  trouble  us  again.  His  head- 
quarters were,  as  you  know,  at  Chignecto,  up  Minas 
Basin  way.  It  was  Duvivier  who  attacked  us  and 
made  us  prisoners.  The  Micmacs  had  wandered  off 
across  the  Gut  by  that  time ;  and  White  Crow  had 
died,  and  Eyes-that-weep  was  a  widow." 

"Why  were  you  not  released  at  the  peace?" 
asked  I.  "  And  why  did  you  not  send  word  where 
vou  were  ?  " 

"I  was  not  released  like  the  others,  because  I 
was  thought  to  be  worth  keeping,  I  suppose.  The 
exchanges  are  managed  most  loosely  and  unfairly. 
And  as  to  communicating  with  my  friends,  I  have 
written  letter  after  letter,  but  all  have  been  de- 
stroyed by  the  Governor — at  least  I  am  told  so." 

"How  did  Pujook  come  to  know  you  were  of 
interest  to  us  ? " 

"His  tribe  were  at   Chebucto   for  a  couple  of 

months,  and  during  that  time  he  took  much  notice 
15 


! 


226 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


of  Mary,  and  doubtless  heard  our  talk  concerning 
your  uncle  and  his  affairs." 

"And  what — " 

But  before  I  could  finish  the  sentence  the  order 
to  retire  was  given,  and  we  prisoners  were  marched 
in  silence  out  of  the  yard. 


(' ' 


m 


i 


CHAPTEE   XV. 


THE   ESCAPE. 

I FTER  this  story,  I  cannot  say  I  was  sorry  to 
find  that  the  hateful  old  abbe  had  fallen  into 
British  hands,  the  ship  in  which  he  sailed  for 
France  having  been  captured  in  the  English 
Channel.  And  years  afterwards  I  could  not  help 
laughing  at  the  terror  in  which  he  was  put  when 
he  was  a  prisoner  at  Fort  Elizabeth,  in  Jersey,  by 
the  same  Private  Huggins  to  whom  he  had  acted 
so  outrageously. 

It  was  very  wrong  of  the  soldier,  I  admit,  but  I 
think  the  poor  fellow  behaved  much  as  I  should 
have  had  an  inclination  to  do,  though  I  should  prob- 
ably have  mastered  the  temptation.  On  being  sta- 
tioned at  Fori  Elizabeth,  the  said  Huggins  was  the 
same  day  put  on  sentry  duty  over  a  prisoner  of 
importance,  and  charged  to  keep  good  watch  on, 
him,  as  attempts  at  escape  had  been  discovered. 


I 


.lT^*i 


>f\ 


w 


ri; 


r   ^,■,f 


|';.«  \k 


228 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


When  the  prisoner  came  out  of  his  apartment,  Hug- 
gins  recognized  him  as  the  Le  Loutre  who  had  cut 
the  gash  round  his  head,  of  which  he  still  bore  the 
scar. 

Forgetting  his  duty,  Huggins  was  so  transported 
with  rage  as  to  shout :  "  You  brute !  I  have  caught 
you  at  last !  I  swore  I  would  pin  you  when  we 
met,  and  I  will ! "  And  at  once  he  levelled  his  bayo- 
net and  made  a  run  for  him. 

Le  Loutre  fled  for  his  life,  round  and  round  the 
yard,  with  Huggins  in  hot  pursuit  endeavoring  to 
stab  him.  The  abbe  screamed  with  fright,  as  he 
skipped  and  jumped  and  dodged  the  thrusts  that 
the  infuriated  soldier  made.  Scream  on  scream, 
yell  on  yell,  rang  through  the  fort,  and  the  officer  of 
the  guard  arriving  on  the  scene,  the  abbe  flung 
himself  behind  him,  seized  him  by  the  waist,  and 
clung  to  him  for  protection. 

"  'Tion ! "  roared  the  lieutenant,  and  such  was 
the  instinct  of  obedience  that  Huggins  instantly 
grounded  arms  and  assumed  the  well-known  posi- 
tion. 

"  What  is  all  this  ?  ^  asked  the  lieutenant. 


I 


THE  ESCAPE. 


229 


"  That  is  the  man  that  tried  to  scalp  me,  sir," 
said  Private  Huggins,  "and  I  swore  to  have  his 
life  when  I  met  him,  and  I  am  going  to  keep  my 
word.  Stand  aside,  sir,  please,  and  let  me  take  a 
drive  at  him." 

"  Oh  ho ! "  said  the  lieutenant,  seeing  he  had  to 
do  with  a  maniac  for  the  time  being.  "  Of  course 
you  shall  have  him  all  to  yourself  when  the  captain 
comes.     Right,  half  turn,  march ! " 

And  Huggins  marched  to  the  guard-room,  where 
he  was  disarmed.  And  after  inquiring,  the  colonel, 
finding  he  was  really  resolved  to  take  Le  Loutre^s 
life,  shipped  him  off  to  the  barracks  in  England  out 
of  temptation. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  had  not  the  lieuten- 
ant appeared  upon  the  scene  so  opportunely,  the 
angry  man  would  have  spitted  the  Frenchman  like 
a  frog.  The  abbess  punishment  must,  however, 
have  been  bitter  enough.  Wlien  he  came  out  of 
prison  in  1763  it  was  to  find  that  the  only  result  of 
his  detestable  practices  had  been  to  deprive  his 
countrymen  of  America. 

To  him,  more  than  any  man,  was  due  the  colo- 


I 
I 


ll 


IT  ^ 

■'-^ 

iS' 

i  1 

Iks 

^ 

m 

1^ 

■;■  " 

1  ; 

1  i 

*    i: 


•:  f 


y  :  . 


230 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


nial  hatred  of  the  French  which  gave  Canada  to 
Great  Britain.  He  was  the  incarnation  of  every- 
thing abominable  in  the  character  of  his  nation. 
What  a  guK  there  is  between  a  Le  Loutre  and  a 
Bougainville  or  a  Lalande ! 

The  impression  made  on  me  by  Mr.  Kervan's 
story  was  the  greater  from  my  not  seeing  him  alive 
again.  The  next  day  I  was  sent  for  to  a  dying 
man,  and  owing  to  the  delay  in  doing  the  errand,  I 
found  a  dead  one.  He  had  been  taken  with  a  fit, 
and  on  recovery  for  a  few  moments  had  begged  the 
attendants  to  fetch  me.  When  I  arrived  I  was  too 
late. 

"  Did  he  say  anything  ? "  I  asked. 

"Yes,  monsieur;  he  said,  'Tell  Mr.  Ardyne  to 
have  a  notary  to  certify  my  death.'  ^ 

"  And  anything  else  1 " 

"  Not  of  sense,  but  mere  delirium  of  Louisbourg 
and  General  Pepperrel." 

And  I  went  away  sad  at  heart,  and  angry  with 
myself  for  not  having  asked  him  sooner  about  my 
uncle  Andrew's  money. 

A  natural  regret,  though  its  expression  here  is 


THE  ESCAPE. 


231 


not  as  happy  as  might  have  been  wished.  But  I 
cannot  even  now  help  thinking  about  those  worry- 
ing money  matters.  The  hint  as  to  the  notary  I  of 
course  attended  to,  and  I  became  possessed  of  a 
certificate  which  set  at  rest  any  difficulties  Mary 
might  have  in  succeeding  to  her  father's  property — 
if  only  the  whole  of  it  could  have  been  found ! 

The  whereabouts  of  the  missing  money  occupied 
a  large  share  of  my  thoughts.  One  thing  was  clear, 
Andrew  Ardyne  had  not  squandered  the  trust 
money,  or  appropriated  it  to  his  own  use.  The 
stain  on  the  family  honor  was  removed.  For  that 
my  father  would  be  thankful,  and  even  Adamson, 
with  whom  correspondence  occasionally  passed, 
would  not  be  sorry. 

But  much  pondering  is  wearisome ;  and  I  found 
it  so.  I  sighed  for  a  life  of  action.  To  be  cooped 
up  in  a  prison  was  misery  to  me.  But  to  wait  till 
the  war  was  over!  And  even  then,  like  Kervan 
perhaps,  be  kept  in  captivity  by  some  disgraceful 
shuffle,  because  I  possessed  such  awkward  local 
knowledge ! 

Meanwhile  I  had  not  been  forgotten,  and,  as  I 


! 


■ 


■ 


F  ff  ■" 


232 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


!     .  1 


1     .  t    ^   . 


f   , 


1 

1    . 

i 

4 

1 

1 

■■;-i 

>'  '--'^^f^.jtH.'ti'WSiS 

learned  afterwards,  I  had  become  quite  a  celebrated 
personage  with  the  select  official  circle  at  Quebec 
and  Montreal.  It  wt  s  Vaudreuil's  department  that 
insisted  on  keeping  me,  and  Montcalm's  that  pro- 
tested I  should  be  exchanged  in  due  turn.  And  at 
last,  to  be  rid  of  the  difficulty  and  give  Montcalm  a 
snub,  Vaudreuil  resolved  to  send  to  France  this 
prisoner  who  had  become  so  important. 

One  evening  I  was  without  any  warning 
marched  down  to  the  wharf  and  put  on  board  ship. 
To  all  my  questions  no  answer  was  returned.  I 
was  locked  in  one  of  the  cabins.  Where  the  men 
were  taking  me  to  I  could  not  discover ;  but  I  soon 
knew  we  were  under  way.  Next  morning  the  cap- 
tain gave  orders  for  me  to  be  brought  on  deck,  and 
told  me  he  was  taking  me  to  France.  I  protested 
at  this  treatment,  and  he  said,  what  was  true  enough, 
that  he  could  only  obey  his  orders,  and  that  it  were 
best  for  me  to  go  quietly,  as  if  not  I  might  find  the 
voyage  an  unpleasant  one. 

As  he  was  not  by  any  means  a  bad  fellow,  and 
indeed,  I  rather  liked  him,  I  assured  him  I  would 
not  cause  him  uneasiness,  though  I  warned  him  I 


I 

I 


THE  ESCArE. 


233 


hold  myself  free  to  escape  when  opportunity  offered. 
Ho  thanked  me  for  my  frankness,  and  said  he  would 
take  the  risk. 

And  so  I  was  embarked  on  the  then  long  voyage 
to  Europe,  with  the  pleasant  anticipation  of  spend- 
ing the  rest  of  my  days  in  a  French  prison ! 

I  thought  over  many  plans  of  escape  suited  for 
many  of  the  positions  in  which  I  was  likely  to  bo 
placed,  but,  like  many  generals,  my  paper  plans  of 
campaign  were  never  tried.  At  the  same  time  it 
may  be  doubted  if  this  were  an  unprofitable  exercise. 
It  at  least  helped  me  to  keep  my  head  clear. 

At  daybreak  one  morning  I  heard  the  men  on 
deck  shouting  that  there  was  a  sail  in  sight;  and 
there  followed  much  trampling  and  ordering,  from 
which  I  gathered  that  the  sail  was  probably  an 
English  frigate  or  privateer.  As  I  was  dressing  in 
my  cabin,  I  could  see  through  the  lathwork  into  the 
captain's  cabin,  which  had  the  door  open.  From 
one  of  the  lockers  I  saw  him  take  out  a  canvas  bag, 
and  from  the  bag  he  took  a  packet  of  letters  which 
I  knew  to  be  despatches,  one  of  them  probably  re- 
ferring to  me.    From  another  drawer  he  took  a 


i 


^ 


I 


IF 


234 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


PI 


:i  r 


m  \i 


smaller  canvas  bag,  which  contained  musket  bullets, 
as  I  saw  by  his  taking  a  few  out  to  assure  himself 
he  was  right.  He  tied  the  bag  of  bullets  on  to  the 
despatches,  and  threw  it  into  the  larger  canvas  bag, 
and  then,  making  the  neck  fast,  had  all  pre^Dared  for 
throwing  overboard  should  the  strange  sail  come 
dangerously  near  us. 

A  3hase  followed,  but  the  French  vessel,  being  a 
faster  ship  than  the  British  one,  as  is  usually  the 
case,  succeeded  in  making  good  her  escape.  The 
only  result  of  the  adventure  was  to  drive  the  French- 
man more  to  the  southward  than  he  had  intended. 

As  Europe  was  approached  there  were  frequent 
alarms  of  this  sort,  and  eventually  the  French- 
man put  into  Vigo  for  provisions. 

As  we  ran  in  under  false  colors  I  noticed  a 
British  man-of-war  at  anchor,  and  at  once  a  plan  of 
escape  suggested  itself  to  me.  That  night,  when 
the  captain  was  ashore,  I  prepared  myself  for  a  long 
swim.  In  the  middle  watch  I  arose  noiselessly, 
and  making  my  way  to  the  capt?:n's  cabin  I  opened 
the  locker,  took  out  the  canvas  bag,  opened  it,  freed 
the  despatches  from  the  bag  of  bullets,  and  added 


THE  ESCAPE. 


235 


tliem  to  the  private  papers  I  had  strapped  round 
my  waist.  With  nothing  on  but  my  drawers,  a 
flannel  vest,  and  this  belt  with  the  papers,  I  stole 
out  on  to  the  deck  and  slipped  overboard  unob- 
served in  the  darkness.  That  I  might  make  no 
noise  by  swimming,  I  floated  on  my  back  into  the 
wake  of  the  English  ship,  where  a  few  strokes  en- 
abled me  to  reach  the  hawser.  I  then  shouted,  and 
was  heard  by  the  sergeant  of  the  line  regiment 
acting  as  marines,  who  gave  the  alarm,  and  I  was 
taken  on  board.  The  sergeant's  voice  seemed  famil- 
iar to  me,  and  when  I  reached  the  deck  I  found  ho 
was  my  good  old  friend  Sergeant  O'Brien. 

"What  do  you  want  at  this  time  of  night T' 
asked  he. 

"  Wliy,  it  is  Sergeant  O'Brien ! "  said  I. 

"Sure,  it  is  that  same!"  said  the  sergeant. 
"  And  who  are  you  1 " 

"  I  am  Felix  Ardyne  you  used  to  know,  and  I 
have  escaped  from  the  French." 

"  Felix  Ardyne  in  that  rig !  Faith,  I'm  glad  to 
welcome  you.  Come  and  have  some  clothes  on, 
my  boy." 


1 


236 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


And  he  took  me  to  liis  commanding  officer,  who 
was  no  other  than  Mr.,  now  Captain,  Tarling.  Hero 
was  a  meeting!  The  introduction  was  character- 
istic. The  sergeant  went  to  his  captain  and  woke 
him  up  with  the  intelligence : 

"  Sir,  here's  a  new  Father  Neptune  come  up 
to  you  out  of  the  sea." 

"  What  do  you  say  ? "  asked  Tarling  sleepily. 

*^  Wake  up,  sir.  Here's  young  Mr.  Ardyne  wants 
to  speak  with  you  on  important  business." 

"  Young  Mr.  Ardyne !     What,  Felix  ? " 

"  Yes,  sir.  I  shouldn't  have  taken  the  liberty  of 
waking  you  for  that,  but  ho  has  nabi3ed  a  bundle  of 
the  enemy's  despatches,  and  I  thought  the  sooner 
the  captain  knew  it  the  better." 

"  All  right,  I'll  be  there  in  a  minute." 

And  in  about  a  cpiarter  of  an  hour  I  had  handed 
the  despatches  to  the  captain  of  the  battle-ship,  who 
received  ine,  and  them,  in  liis  night-shirt. 

"  Very  good,  Mr.  Ardyne,"  said  the  hero  in  the 
night-shirt.  ''Very  good,  sir;  you  are  a  Briton, 
sir,  and  a  good  one.  We'll  read  these  despatches 
while  you  are  having  a  rest  and  some  refreshment. 


} 


il 


"aS'/t,  hi'ir's  a  ncir  Fttthi-r  yi'/)tiine  rome  up  to  i/oit  oiif  of  t/ie  .sra." 


Uh  ■  i 


ki  J 


!   ,  f 


l.. 


THE  ESCAPE. 


237 


Captain  Tarling  will  see  after  you,  I  dare  say.  My 
servant  will  give  you  a  rig  out.  I  have  got  a  few 
clothes  to  spare,  though  I  have  not  much  on  now." 

And  next  morning,  attired  in  an  old  suit  of  the 
captain's,  I  made  a  presentable  appearance.  The 
coat  was  of  scarlet  cloth  trimmed  with  black  velvet. 

"  And  it  doesn't  fit  you  badly,"  said  the  lender ; 
"  there  is  plenty  of  room  in  the  waist,  but  Saunders 
can  take  a  reef  in  it." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  said  I.  "  I  will  return  it  as 
soon  as  I  can.  It  would  be  a  pity  to  spoil  the  coat 
for  my  sake." 

"Eeturn  it?"  said  the  captain.  "Not  at  all! 
We  will  have  it  made  to  fit  you.  I  am  only  sorry  I 
can't  do  better  for  you.  I  am  going  to  send  you 
home  on  particular  service.  I  am  having  your 
despatches  copied,  and  you  will  take  the  originals 
to  London,  where  you  will  be  rewarded  for  your 
pluck  and  good  sense.  If  I  were  to  send  them  in  any 
other  way,  some  other  man  would  get  the  credit." 

And  that  afternoon  I  went  off  bound  to  Fal- 
mouth and  Whitehall  to  deliver  my  despatches  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty. 


i 


'     I 


I 


238 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


i:  K 


My  arrival  caused  no  little  stir  in  the  office,  the 
news  I  brought  being  of  great  importance  just  then, 
when  the  fleet  under  Boscawen  was  only  waiting 
for  a  fair  wind  to  start  for  America.  I  was  inter- 
rogated by  the  First  Lord,  and  some  of  the  ministers 
were  sent  for.  I  was  told  to  be  seated  in  an  adjoin- 
ing room  while  the  matter  was  considered.  As  I 
sat  there  a  busy  man  with  a  high  aquiline  face 
hurried  past  me;  and  not  long  afterwards  I  was 
again  ushered  into  the  large  room,  and  found  the 
aquiline  man  seated  at  the  head  of  the  table. 

"  Your  despatches  are  of  importance  to  us,  young 
sir,"  said  the  aquiline  man;  "but  from  what  you 
say  it  would  appear  that  the  French  considered  you 
also  to  be  of  importance  to  us.  We  agree  with 
them.  An  expedition  under  Mr.  Boscawen  is  on 
the  point  of  sailing  for  Louisbourg.  To  Mr,  Bos- 
cawen you  would  be  of  much  service,  and  to  your 
country  you  would  also  be  of  service.  Will  you 
go?" 

"  There  is  nothing  I  should  like  so  well,  sir." 

"  Good ! " 

"  Mr.  Pitt  ? "  said  one  of  the  ministers. 


THE  ESCAPE. 


239 


til 
t  ■ 


"  Sir?"  said  the  aquiline  man. 

The  gentleman  leaned  across  the  corner  of  the 
table  and  whispered. 

"Just  so,"  said  Mr.  Pitt.  "I  was  coming  to 
that." 

"  Mr.  Ardyne,  you  will  draw  five  hundred  pounds, 
not  as  a  reward  for  your  services,  which  are  invalu- 
able, but  as  a  slight  compensation  for  the  annoy- 
ances to  which  you  have  been  subjected,  and  as 
something  in  hand  for  outfit.  But  your  outfit  you 
must  get  on  board  ship.  You  will  go  within  the 
hour  to  Portsmouth  to  Mr.  Boscawen.  A  messenger 
will  accompany  you  to  avoid  any  risk  of  delay." 

And  Mr.  Pitt  rose  from  his  chair  and,  advancing 
to  me,  shook  hands  with  me. 

"Good-bye,  Mr.  Ardyne,"  he  said.  "You  are 
just  the  sort  of  man  we  want,  and  you  will  find  Mr. 
Boscawen  will  be  of  the  same  opinion.  Good-bye, 
sir,  and  good  luck  to  you ! " 


in     ^ 


p 

li  = 

V  \ 

i':  ,'    \ 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


ill 


1 1 


I 

;  '    i 

THE  LANDING. 

ARRIVED  at  Portsmouth  on  the  12th  of 
February,  1758.  The  Namur  was  at  Spit- 
head  with  the  fleet,  and  I  at  once  went  out 
to  her.  I  was  accompanied  by  the  Admiralty 
messenger,  whose  orders  had  been  to  lose  not  a 
minute  on  the  journey ;  and  even  on  the  water  his 
I^resence  caused  the  men  to  row  us  at  racing  speed. 
There  was  only  one  boat  that  tried  to  keep  pace 
with  us,  and  that  shot  out  from  Southsea,  and  raced 
with  us  side  by  side  until  it  bore  off  for  the  Prin- 
cess AmcUa.  In  this  boat  was  a  sandy-haired  mili- 
tary officer  in  a  high-collared,  cumbrous  great-coat. 
"  Do  you  know  who  that  officer  is  1 "  asked  the 
messenger. 

"  No,"  said  I,  looking  hard  at  the  cloak  and  hat 
and  their  gaunt,  sandy  possessor,  who  seemed  to  be 
anything  but  comfortable  in  the  choppy  sea. 


I  i 


Itl 


THE  LANDING. 


241 


"That  is  Brigadier  Wolfe,  in  command  of  the 
troops  during  the  voyage ;  when  they  arrive  Gen- 
eral Amherst  is  to  be  commander-in-chief,  and 
Wolfe  will  be  one  of  three  brigadiers.  He  is  to  be 
your  great  man — that  is,  on  land." 

"  He  does  not  look  as  though  he  would  do  much 
at  sea,''  said  I. 

"The  voyage  will  close  on  kill  him,  you  will 
find.  At  sea  the  Admiral  will  have  to  do  without 
him." 

I  found  the  celebrated  Admiral  Boscawen  to  be 
a  thin  gentleman,  looking  little  like  a  sailor,  with  a 
pleasant,  painstaking,  thoughtful  face,  and  small 
gray  eyes  that  peered  straight  at  me.  His  right 
eye  seemed  higher  than  his  left,  but  that  may  be 
from  his  holding  his  head  on  one  side  on  account 
of  the  wound  he  got  in  Anson's  victory.  His  quiet, 
determined  look  gave  me  a  very  different  idea  of 
Old  Dreadnaught  than  I  had  amused  myself  with. 
I  had  expected  a  loud,  bluff,  swaggering  sea-cap- 
tain; and  I  found  a  placid,  clear-headed,  imper- 
turbable gentleman,  who  would  lose  no  chance  of 

success  and  forget  nothing  that  would  risk  failure. 
16 


I 


r 


242 


englishman's  haven. 


U^i 


'  I 


He  read  my  introduction  from  Mr.  Secretary  Pitt, 
and  then  looked  me  up  and  down ;  then  he  read  the 
letter  from  the  secretary  of  the  Admiralty,  and 
gave  me  another  scrutinizing  look.  He  then  asked 
me  to  follow  him  to  his  cabin,  where  he  sat  me 
down,  and  asked  me  to  read  through  the  copy  of 
my  despatches  to  him,  which  I  did. 

It  was  a  low,  panelled  cabin,  with  no  more  fur- 
niture in  it  than  was  necessary,  and  no  pictures  or 
ornamental  articles  on  the  panels,  for  the  Admiral 
was  an  orderly,  practical  man,  and  had  nothing  but 
what  could  be  cleared  away  instantly  at  the  beat  to 
quarters.  Seated  on  a  locker — for  only  one  chair 
was  allowed — sat  I  in  my  scarlet  coat,  ample  in  the 
waist,  and  black  velvet  trimmings,  reading  to  the 
alert,  gray-haired,  gray-eyed  young  Admiral,  then 
in  his  forty-eighth  year.  He  was  in  his  blue  uni- 
form, with  white  facings  and  a  white  waistcoat,  and 
sat  in  the  one  chair  in  the  shadow,  while  I  was  in 
the  full  blaze  of  the  sunlight  that  streamed  in 
through  the  window. 

"Thank  you,"  said  he,  when  the  reading  was 
over.    "  I  will  now  read  them  myself.    It  is  a  plan 


!    I 


THE  LANDING. 


243 


of  mine  to  be  read  to  and  to  read,  so  as  to  get  two 
views  of  a  case.  As  for  yourself,  yonng  sir,  I  think 
you  had  better  start  as  acting-master.  That  will 
put  you  in  the  best  position  to  begin  with.  You 
are  to  have  the  command  of  a  sloop  if  I  find  you  to 
be  fit  for  the  post ;  but  in  the  first  place  you  would 
be  of  more  use  under  my  own  eyes,  and  in  the  next 
I  have  not  a  vessel  for  you  just  now.  You  will  find 
a  good  friend  in  the  master  of  the  Namur,  who  will 
take  a  pride  in  smartening  you  up  and  giving  you 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  discipline  and  man-of-war 
management.  We  shall  soon  see  what  you  are  made 
of.     Follow  me." 

And  Boscawen  led  the  way  to  the  office,  where 
he  gave  the  needful  instructions,  and  I  was  soon 
under  the  wing  of  that  very  smart  but  boisterous 
officer,  the  master  of  the  Namiir. 

Owine:  to  a  continuance  of  westerlv  winds  the 
fleet  lay  weather-bound,  but  on  the  19th  of  Feb- 
ruary a  change  occun*ed,  and  early  that  morning 
the  signal  to  weigh  was  given ;  and  in  the  first  half 
hour  a  disaster  occurred,  the  Invincible^  the  best 
seventy-four  of  her  day,  missing  stays  and  ground- 


{■■■ 

* 

; 
■ 

: 

! 

'  '  .      '       ] 

?    : 

;; 

i 

t 

yn'il 


i 
i 


Kit 


;:(■ 


244 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


ing  on  the  Dean  Sand  a  little  eastward  of  St. 
Helens. 

Out  in  the  Channel  the  weather  soon  grew 
stormy ;  and  much  to  his  disgust  Boscawen  had  to 
put  into  Plymouth.  When  at  last  we  were  clear  of 
the  Channel  it  took  us  over  two  months  to  reach 
Halifax. 

My  father  was  astonished  to  see  me,  as  well 
he  might  be.  When  the  fleet  anchored  in  Halifax 
harbor  the  very  last  thing  that  Captain  Ardyne 
could  have  expected  was  to  find  his  long-lost  son  in 
naval  uniform  on  board  the  flagship,  for  the  fleet 
had  come  faster  than  the  packet  and  I  brought  my 
own  news. 

"What  I  should  like  to  know,"  said  Bezek 
Angel,  "  is  what  is  to  be  the  end  of  all  this.  Is  it 
to  be  a  timber  toe  and  a  green  shade  ? " 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Angel !  "  said  Mary ;  "  what  a  horrid 
creature  you  are  to  say  that.  I  thought  he  was 
looking  so  well,  and  I  was  so  glad  to  have  him  once 
again  among  us,  and  now — " 

"Now  what?"  said  Angel.  "You  had  given 
him  up  as  dead,  and  yet  you  are  not  content  with 


THE  LANDING. 


245 


him  because  he  may  get  slightly  damaged  in  one 
of  the  most  glorious  occupations  under  the  sun." 

"  What  is  that  ?  "  asked  Captain  Ardyne. 

"Hammering  down  Louisbourg,  I  mean;  and 
justifying  old  Pujook." 

"  Come,  Mary,  don't  be  foolish,"  said  Captain 
Ardyne.  But  somehow  Mary  could  not  help  being 
foolish  on  that  point,  and  when  I  gave  her  the 
notary's  certificate,  she  went  away  to  have  a  good 
cry  all  to  herself. 

"  She'll  be  all  right  in  an  hour  or  two,"  said 
Angel,  who  appeared  to  have  had  experience  in 
such  matters.    "  How  long  have  you  to  stay  ? " 

"  Until  the  fleet  are  all  mustered  and  the  General 
here." 

"  And  what  are  you  going  to  do,  pray  ? "  asked 
my  father. 

"Oh!  I  have  charge  of  the  Louisbourg  pilot- 
age and  charts ;  and  I  suppose  I  shall  have  to  take 
soundings." 

"  Take  soundings ! "  exclaimed  Angel ;  "  I  thought 
you  were  going  to  take  Grand  Batteries ! " 

"  Not  this  time,  I  believe." 


I 


v.' 


I 


I 


}''}^ 

I  ' 

lMiL.^B 

1  '■ 
J 

246 


englishman's  haven. 


"  Take  care  of  number  one,  eh  ? " 

"Who  do  you  think  is  aboard  the  Princess 
Amelia  with  Brigadier  Wolfe  ? " 

"  Haven't  a  notion." 

"  Why,  Commodore  Durell,  who  took  the  Notre 
Bame  when  you  began  that  profitable  battle  by 
banging  away  with  your  gun." 

"  Ah ! "  said  Angel.  "  Poor  old  Loo  !  God  bless 
her !  I  wonder  what  has  become  of  her.  Sit  you 
down,  lad,  and  tell  us  the  story  of  her  trouble  with 
your  own  lips." 

And  I  told  the  story  of  her  capture,  and  also 
that  of  my  imprisonment,  and  this  I  was  able  to  do 
at  greater  length  from  time  to  time,  as  I  passed 
many  a  pleasant  hour  ashore  during  the  days  the 
fleet  lay  in  the  harbor. 

On  the  28th  of  May  the  Admiral,  being  tired  of 
waiting  for  the  General,  gave  the  word  for  departure, 
and  out  we  went,  making  a  fine  show  of  a  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  sail,  counting  many  ships  and  trans- 
ports. As  we  were  losing  sight  of  Chebuct:)  Head 
there  was  a  cry  of  "  Sail  ho ! "  and  in  about  an  hour 
we  met  the  Dublin  with  General  Amherst  on  board. 


If 


THE  LANDING. 


247 


She  was  seventy-three  days  out  from  England. 
Her  captain,  Rodney,  came  aboard  the  Namur.  He 
was  the  same  who  as  admiral  won  the  great  victory 
off  Dominica  over  the  Count  de  Grasse — a  daring, 
handsome  officer,  for  whom  every  one  had  a  good 
word ;  a  man  cast  in  a  more  fiery  mould  than  om* 
Boscawen,  but,  like  him,  a  true  leader  of  men. 

"  A  fine,  manly  officer  is  Captain  Rodney,"  said 
the  master  of  the  Nmmir,  "  and  a  good  seaman ;  but 
I  am  not  sure  if  our  Old  Dreadnaught  has  not  as 
much  fire  in  the  locker  when  he  wants  it.  You 
should  have  seen  Boscawen  when  he  was  in  the 
SJioreham  at  Carthagena.  You  would  never  have 
recognized  the  quiet  old  lamb  ho  now  looks  in  the 
flaring  lion  who  tore  up  the  hill  at  the  head  of  the 
seamen  and  took  the  Spanish  battery  sword  in 
hand,  and  first  man  in.  And  then  when  he  came  to 
the  Dreadnaught  in  1742,  my  eyes !  what  a  time  he 
gave  us !  The  instant  war  was  declared  in  1743,  off 
we  went.  Soon  there  was  *  Sail  ho ! '  After  the  sail 
we  went,  with  the  sticks  bending  like  whips;  and 
before  night  we  had  scored  first  capture  of  the 
war,  and  made  prize  of  the  Medee  with  Mounseer 


248 


englishman's  haven. 


M?  ■ 


Hocquart.  Poor  Mr.  Hocquart!  When  in  the 
Namur  off  Finisterre  in  Anson's  victory,  Old  Dread- 
naught  took  him  again !  Caught  the  same  captain 
twice !  And  what's  more,  when  he  picked  up  the  Al- 
cide  and  Lijs,  the  first  captures  of  this  war,  blessed 
if  our  Old  Man  didn't  take  Mounseer  Hocquart  a 
third  time!  Fact!  Caught  the  same  man  three 
times !  Look  how  he  looked  after  his  crews,  too ! 
No  phyijic  wanted  where  he  is,  only  cutting  and 
carving.  See  what  a  nose  he  has  to  spot  a  stench 
anywhere.  Talk  of  your  cell  like  a  cheese,  you  didn't 
get  anything  like  that  aboard  a  ship  where  Captain 
Boscawen  was.  Ho  would  soon  know  the  reason 
why,  I  can  tell  you.  See  how  sweet  his  old  ship  is ! 
Did  you  ever  see  a  healthier  lot  of  men  than  ours  ? 
Why  ?  Because  they  are  looked  after,  and  made  to 
live  in  decency  and  cleanliness,  and  get  good  food. 
You  don't  starve  Boscawen's  men;  not  you;  he's 
a  man  who  treats  his  crew  like  men,  and  that's 
why  tlio  men  worship  him." 

"And  you  think  he'll  take  Louisbourg?"  said  I. 

"  Take  it  ?  Ha !  That's  good !  Why,  he'll  pulp 
it  and  make  the  French  eat  the  jelly." 


III'! 


THE  LANDING. 


249 


But  the  "  pulping  "  was  to  take  time.  When  the 
fleet  appeared  in  the  fog  in  Gabarus  Bay  the  sea 
was  so  rough  that  no  boat  could  live  in  it ;  and  for 
six  days,  while  the  boisterous,  foggy  weather  lasted, 
the  French — four  times  as  numerous  as  in  Ducham- 
bon's  day — kept  up  a  heavy  fire  on  the  ships  from 
certain  new  batteries  they  had  placed  along  the 
coast,  and  worked  ceaselessly  at  their  open  and 
secret  obstacles  and  fortifications.  From  Black 
Point  to  "White  Point  ranged  a  line  of  interchained 
barges;  all  along  the  cliffs  were  breastworks  and 
entrenchments  and  supporting  batteries,  some  of 
them  boldly  displayed,  and  others,  for  use  during 
the  landing,  masked  with  young  spruce  trees  and 
newly  planted  shrubs.  Wherever  the  rocks  were 
scalable  artificial  thickets  were  laid  of  felled  trees 
having  their  tops  towards  the  shore  and  thick  as  a 
green  field.  There  were  four  batteries  of  heavy 
cannon  and  large  swivels  at  Freshwater  Cove,  four 
miles  to  the  west  of  the  city,  and  along  the  shore 
were  five  more  batteries  at  Flat  Point,  three  more 
at  White  Point;  then  came  the  Black  Point  de- 
fences, and  then  the  bastioned  city  with  the  Island 


'1 


if  ' 


250 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


Battery  guarding  the  harbor  mouth  as  before.  For 
nearly  a  week  the  long  rolling  surf  made  landing 
impossible,  and  the  Frenchman  shot  at  the  ships  all 
day  and  improved  his  traps  and  entanglements  all 
night. 

On  the  7th  of  June  the  swell  began  to  abate, 
and  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  Commodore  Du- 
rell  came  to  the  flagship  and  remained  some  hours. 
At  eleven  I  was  sent  for,  and  ordered  to  accompany 
him  in  a  boat  exploration  of  the  coast.  As  he  had 
surveyed  the  harbor  and  approaches  in  1745,  and  I 
had  been  backward  and  forward  over  the  ground 
I  know  not  how  many  times,  we  were  not  likely  to 
come  to  trouble.  In  the  boat  I  reminded  him  of 
his  capture  of  the  Notre  Dame  cle  la  Dellvrance,  and 
learning  who  I  was  he  became  companionable,  so 
that  our  night's  trip  was  a  pleasant  one.  On  our 
return  to  the  ship  we  reported  that  the  boats  could 
approach  the  shore  with  safety,  and  orders  were  at 
once  issued  for  the  troops  to  embark. 

There  was  quite  a  transformation  on  the  trans- 
ports, for  the  uniforms,  which  had  been  worn  inside- 
out  by  the  soldiers  on  the  voyage,  were  now  turned 


THE  LANDING. 


251 


d 


the  proper  way,  so  that  the  white  troops  became 
scarlet  and  green. 

At  daybreak  six  of  the  frigates  and  a  fifty-gun 
ship  passed  through  the  fleet  and  anchored  off  each 
of  the  promontories  which  had  been  chosen  as  the 
points  of  real  and  feigned  attack.  Off  White  Point 
on  our  right  were  the  Sutherland  and  Squirrel;  off 
Flat  Point  in  front  of  us  were  the  Graniont,  Shan- 
non, and  Diana;  and  in  Freshwater  Cove  were  the 
Kennington  and  Halifax.  The  guns  from  the  shore 
Oldened  on  them  as  they  sailed  up.  but  they  made 
no  reply  until  they  were  anchored.  Then  from  the 
fifty-gun  ship  Sutherland,  Captain  Rous — the  same 
who  in  the  Shirley  Galley  had  captured  the  Viyilant 
in  the  first  siege — fired  the  first  &hot,  and  soon  the 
seven  vessels  were  hid  in  powder-smoke,  with  only 
their  upper  spars  showing.  While  they  were  at 
work  the  boats  in  three  groups  moved  towards  the 
shore  from  the  transports  and  line-of-l)attle  ships. 

The  sea  tliough  not  "rougli"  to  a  sailor  would 
be  so  called  by  a  landsman,  and  grew  rougher  as 
the  flotilla  reached  the  craggy  coast.  Each  of  the 
three  divisions  vvas  under  a  brigadier.    The  group 


i 


i 


1  '    ! 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


'I' 


u;; 


nearest  the  city,  steering  towards  the  Sutherland 
and  Squirrel,  was  commanded  by  General  Whitmore ; 
the  centre  one,  making  for  the  three  frigates,  was 
commanded  by  General  Lawrence ;  the  western  one, 
making  towards  the  Halifax  and  Kennington,  was 
led  by  General  Wolfe. 

His  was  the  real  attack,  the  others,  notwithstand- 
ing the  elaborate  preparations,  were  but  feints,  their 
object  being  to  distract  the  enemy's  attention,  and 
reinforce  Wolfe  when  his  forlorn  hope  had  made 
good  their  landing. 

Wolfe's  boats  were  in  two  squadrons :  to  the  left 
were  the  grenadiers  in  red,  with  the  green-coated 
rangers  behind  them ;  to  the  right  were  the  gi'cen- 
coated  light  infantry,  with  the  pi  aided  highlanders 
behind  them.  In  the  middle  of  the  front  line  of 
boats  was  the  red  flag  which  denoted  the  presence 
of  the  General ;  which  flag  the  officers  were  directed 
to  watch  as  a  guide  to  their  movements. 

It  was  a  long  pull  from  the  ships.  The  early 
morning  was  chill  and  misty,  and  the  smoke  from 
the  frigates  and  the  shore  batteries  rolled  lazily  off 
in  heavy  clouds.    The  sound  of  the  firing  echoed 


%■ 


THE  LANDING. 


253 


over  the  waves ;  and  it  was  not  without  a  feeling  of 
shame  that  we  saw  our  powerful  line-of-battle  ships 
idle  while  the  frigates  had  so  much  to  do. 

We  watched  the  boats  with  anxiety.  All  the 
fighting  was  to  be  done  by  the  soldiers,  the  seamen 
being  on  this  occasion  mere  rowing  machines ;  and 
the  soldiers  had  been  forbidden  to  fix  bayonets  or 
shoot  in  the  boats.  As  they  approached  the  land 
wo  knew  they  would  be  under  fire  without  power  of 
replying.  The  long  line  on  the  heaving  surge 
looked  like  a  great  sea-serpent  gliding  towards  the 
doomed  city.  As  the  flotilla  passed  the  frigates  our 
guns  ceased;  and  the  enemy  also  ceased  firing, 
waiting  until  our  men  were  well  within  range  of  all 
their  arms,  when  they  hoped  to  crush  them  by 
weight  and  fury. 

As  the  smoke  fled  and  the  boats  neared  the 
shore  we  looked  at  Lawrence's  blue  flag  nnd  Whit- 
more's  white  one,  and  wondered  when  they  were 
going  to  stop  and  let  the  red  flag  get  away.  At 
last  we  could  see  the  Wolfe  division  slowly  leaving 
the  others.  The  sea  had  increased  in  choppiness, 
and  the  boats  were  pitching  far  more  than  we  rel- 


'  I » 


I 


I 


1 


II 


!  I    I 


254 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


II  i 


I 


: 


i    ■^:     I 


ished.  It  looked  bad;  but  it  was  really  the  best 
thing  that  could  happen.  Suddenly  the  enemy's 
fire  burst  out  in  a  line  of  flashes  along  the  cliffs. 
Instantly  shrubberies  became  batteries,  trees  be- 
came trenches,  and  all  along  the  ridge  the  mask 
fell  and  the  miles  of  fortification  were  revealed. 

On  to  the  dancing  boats  poured  a  rain  of  hot- 
shot, cold-shot,  canister,  langrage,  and  musketry  to 
which  no  reply  could  be  given.  The  red  flag  was 
shot  away,  and  replaced.  Now  on  the  crest  of  the 
wave,  now  in  the  hollow,  went  the  boats.  The 
sailors  pulled  along  steadily  through  it  all,  the 
motion  of  the  boats  in  the  sea-way  making  aim  at 
them  impossible,  though  many  were  hit,  and  it 
looked  as  though  the  red  flag  would  never  pass  that 
strip  of  shot-torn  surf. 

As  they  neared  the  rocks,  too,  the  boats  began 
to  crowd  and  jolt  against  each  other  and  upset ;  and 
many  were  stove  in. 

In  vain  did^Yolfe  look  about  for  a  landing-place, 
until  one  of  the  light-infantry  boats  noticed  to  the 
east  a  somewhat  sheltered  point  id  led  the  way  to 
it.    Down  on  the  men  played  tL   guns,  as  close  as 


II 


THE  LANDING. 


255 


the  top  of  a  Louse  is  to  the  curb.  As  they  jumped 
ashore  many  of  the  men  were  swept  back  off  the 
slippery  rocks  by  the  lashing  of  the  troubled  surf. 
Some  were  drowned;  but  the  rest  scrambled  up 
into  a  flanking  fire  from  the  cove  guns ;  and  though 
several  were  shot  they  held  their  ground  until  rein- 
forced. 

The  boat  with  the  red  flag  was  one  of  the  first  to 
follow,  and  Wolfe  jumped  up  to  his  waist  into  the 
sea,  and  walked  ashore  under  the  angry  fire  from 
the  batteries  and  trenches  not  sixty  feet  away. 
With  his  walking-stick  in  hand — for  he  used  no 
weapons — he  scrambled  through  the  spray  on  to  a 
rock  that  now  bears  his  name,  and  up  the  cliff  for 
twenty  feet  or  more ;  and,  forming  the  highlanders, 
he  led  a  bayonet  charge  at  the  first  battery. 

That  was  taken. 

Then  he  went  at  the  second  battery. 

That  was  taken. 

Then  he  went  at  the  third  battery. 

That  was  taken. 

And  so  the  day  prospered.  Post  after  post  was 
won.    Boat  after  boat  landed  its  men,  who  crowded 


it 

i 
1 


256 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


lip  to  increase  tlio  number  of  captures.  Wolfe's 
division  was  all  ashore.  Lawrence's  followed.  Am- 
herst, with  the  reserve,  followed  from  the  fleet. 

Wolfe  rolled  up  Drucour  almost  as  quickly  as 
Pepperrell  had  rolled  up  Duchambon. 

And  within  six  hours  of  the  start  at  daybreak 
the  French  were  driven  within  the  city,  and  their 
four  miles  of  thickets,  trenches,  and  batteries,  with 
all  their  cannon  auci  swivels  and  mortars  and  stores, 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  invaders. 


ti,    ;t: 


l! 


f   f-i 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE   SECOND   SIEGE. 

[E  "  English  savages,"  as  Drueour  called  the 
highlanders  and  light  infantry  and  rangers, 
kept  the  pursuit  up  at  a  run ;  and  the  pine 
woods  and  marshes  were  alive  for  a  time 
with  the  white-coated  French  infantry  and  the 
brown  skins  and  waving  feathers  of  their  Micmac 
auxiliaries,  who?=^  chief,  a  stout  fellow,  with  uncom- 
monly large  limbs  and  features,  having  a  medal  and 
crucifix  of  silver  both  hanging  by  a  chain  from  his 
neck,  lay  dead  near  the  landing-place. 

The  pursuit  only  stopped  when  a  fierce  cannon- 
ade from  the  fortress  obligingly  pointed  out,  as 
General  Amherst  said,  how  near  we  might  encamp 
to  invest  it — which  he  immediately  set  to  wor^i  to 
do — riding  about  in  his  bright  scarlet  coat,  with  the 
white  ruffles  fluttering  in  the  sunshine,  looking  as 

trim  and  smart  as  if  he  had  landed  in  a  band-box. 
17 


I 


ill! 


W 


258 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


% 


A  man  with  a  pardonatly  good  opinion  of  him- 
self was  Jeffrey  Amherst,  afterwards  conqueror  of 
Canada.  One  look  at  his  well-set-up,  soldierly 
figure,  and  brisk,  snappish  face  was  enough  to  give 
you  that  impression.  That  small  head,  with  the 
bold  brows,  keen  dark-gray  eyes,  and  lips  with  the 
pouts  at  the  side,  meant  considerable  self-esteem 
and  much  drill.  A  very  different  general  was  Am- 
herst to  Pepperrell ;  and  a  very  different  plan  was 
he  to  go  on.  This  was  to  bo  a  highly  scientific 
siege — as  nearly  as  possible ;  and  here  was  our  old 
friend  Colonel  Bastide  with  his  art  of  zigzag,  which 
had  been  so  rudely  brushed  aside  by  Vaughan. 
The  colonel  now  was  to  have  a  free  hand,  and  he 
was  going  to  take  Louisbourg  on  the  latest  improved 
principles,  and  had  even  brought  a  box  of  books  of 
the  most  recent  date  in  order  that  he  should  not  be 
an  hour  behind  the  age. 

"  Jam  Wolfe  " — we  used  to  laugh  at  his  signature 
on  board  the  ships,  and  have  many  small  jokes  con- 
cerning this  Jam — was  evidently  to  be  the  hero  of 
the  enterprise.  He  was  the  youngest  of  the  briga- 
diers, and  had  the  most  dangerous  work  to  do ;  and 


# 


THE   SECOND   SIEGE. 


259 


ho  did  it  so  well  that  it  was  hopoloss  to  attempt  to 
ignore  him.  "  The  pattern  of  the  officer,  the  darling 
of  the  soldier,"  as  ho  came  to  be  called,  h;id  a  figure 
that  lent  itself  easily  to  caricature,  and  could  be  hit 
off  to  a  nicety  in  dot  and  line.  Ho  was  thhi  and 
lanky  and  narrow-shouldered;  so  narrow  that  his 
coat-collar  nearly  touched  the  sleeves  which  end(Ml 
in  gigantic  cuffs  that  almost  reached  his  elbows. 
Such  a  figure  as  this,  in  a  red  coat  with  ample 
skirts  reaching  to  the  knee,  and  with  a  large  cockcul 
hat,  from  the  back  of  which  stuck  out  a  tail  of  red 
hair,  was  just  the  sort  of  thing  for  our  youngsters 
who  thought  they  could  draw.  But,  contrary  to  th(^ 
usual  opinion,  our  great  brigadier  had  rather  a  well- 
featured  face,  and  only  very  distantly  resembled  the 
idiot  that  a  dauber  named  Highmore  has  evolved  from 
a  pencil  caricature  sketched  on  tho  field  of  Quebec. 

I  once  heard  Boscawen  say  a  word  in  favor  of 
Wolfe  which  I  never  forgot.  "  That  may  be,"  said 
tho  Admiral,  "  but  all  tho  worthy  have  had  a  good 
word  to  say  of  Wolfe  ever  since  he  floundered  about 
in  tho  Dettingen  mud  and  did  adjutant's  duty  when 
only  a  boy  of  sixteen !  " 


. 


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260 


englishman's  haven. 


The  part  played  by  Colonel  Vaughan  in  the  first 
siege  was  in  this  to  be  played  by  Brigadier  Wolfe. 
Like  him  he  led  the  first  expedition  round  the  fort- 
ress to  the  northeast  harbor;  like  him,  strange  to 
relate,  he  found  the  Grand  Battery  abandoned ;  and 
like  him  he  raised  the  batteries  which  eventually 
settled  the  island  and  opened  the  port. 

The  taking  of  Louisbourg  was  a  much  toughei 
task  than  in  the  days  of  Duchambon.  To  say  noth- 
ing of  the  new  barracks  and  bomb-proof  casemates, 
there  were  new  works  between  the  Maurepas  and 
Princess  bastions,  a  new  bastioned  curtain  joining 
the  Princess  to  the  Queen's,  and  a  new  twenty-gun 
half -moon  battery  on  the  point ;  added  to  which  the 
French  had  known  for  months  we  were  coming, 
and  had  laid  in  a  year's  provisions  and  much  am- 
munition, and  during  the  week  we  were  on  the 
coast  they  had  every  opportunity  of  preparation. 

Drucour  had  under  his  command  over  three 
thousand  regulars  besides  militia  and  Indians.  We 
of  the  fleet  were  chiefly  interested  in  the  vessels  in 
the  harbor.  There  were  twelve  ships  of  the  navy 
there — two  seventy-fours,  three  sixty-fours,  a  fifty- 


THE  SECOND  SIEGE. 


261 


) 


gun  ship,  four  frigates,  and  two  corvettes.  To  keep 
these  ships  from  getting  out  and  to  prevent  others 
from  getting  in  was  Boscawen's  business;  to  ap- 
proach the  fortress  by  trench  and  battery  and  bom- 
bard it  till  it  surrendered  was  Amherst's  work; 
then  tlie  two  were  to  combine,  and  from  ship  and 
shore,  if  necessary,  carry  the  place  by  storm. 

On  the  10th  of  June  the  trenches  were  opened, 
and  a  thousand  men  were  toiling  night  and  day, 
making  a  road  and  epaulement  over  a  tract  of  deep 
mud  covered  with  moss,  under  fire  of  the  city  and 
the  ships  at  anchor. 

On  the  13th  the  French  frigate  Echo  ran  the 
blockade  in  a  fog,  being  bound  to  Quebec  with 
a  demand  for  help ;  but  the  Admiral  was  after  her 
like  a  shot,  and  she  was  soon  brought  back,  a  prize 
of  the  Sutherland  and  Juno. 

On  the  19th  Brigadier  Wolfe  opened  fire  from 
the  new  Lighthouse  Battery.  I  went  ashore.  The 
great  sight  at  the  front  was  the  Governor's  wife, 
Madame  Drucour,  who  appeared  on  the  ramparts 
every  day  and  fired  three  guns  at  us,  and  wiped  off 
the  dust  with  her  lace  handkerchief  from  any  place 


t 


'4' 


f 


u 


i-e.1 


\  In 


t  [ 


i). 


il 


Ji 


'.!: 


262 


englishman's  haven. 


we  hit — in  imitation,  I  suppose,  of  Black  x\gnes  of 
Dunbar. 

The  cannonade  was  continuous,  progressive,  and 
tremendous. 

By  the  25th  Wolfe  had  knocked  the  Island  Bat- 
tery to  pieces,  and  the  French,  to  block  the  en- 
trance, sank  four  of  their  men-of-war  and  chained 
their  masts  together  at  the  water  level.  As  soon  as 
he  had  silenced  the  island  Wolfe  was  off  to  join  the 
main  army,  on  the  other  side  of  the  city,  and  super- 
intend the  approaches  to  the  West  Gate,  at  which 
Pepperrell  had  made  his  chief  attack. 

Every  day  saw  the  trenches  advanced,  new  re- 
doubts or  block-houses  formed,  new  guns  in  posi- 
tion, and  hundreds  of  new  gabions  and  fascines 
turned  out  by  the  busy  troops.  The  trenches  be- 
gan at  a  hillock  half  a  mile  from  the  ramparts,  and 
soon  formed  a  network  of  zigzagery  that  rejoiced 
old  Bastide's  heart. 

"  This  is  the  way  a  fortress  should  be  taken,^  he 
is  reported  to  have  said ;  "  none  of  your  happy-go- 
lucky  advances,  but  solid  scientific  work,  with  just 
as  much  fire  and  dash  as  in  the  forty-five.    It  is  all 


[ii.*, 


THE  SECOND  SIEGE. 


263 


J 


very  well  to  trust  in  Providence,  but  in  our  plans 
we  may  as  well  give  Providence  a  chance." 

On  the  1st  of  July  the  French  sank  two  more 
ships  and  made  a  sally ;  which  sally  was  driven  in 
by  Wolfe,  who  took  advantage  of  it  to  seize  a  hill 
in  advance  and  build  a  redoubt  oh  it. 

And  the  sally  had  another  result,  for  Drucour 
sent  out  a  flag  of  truce,  and  politely  informed  Am- 
herst that  in  Louisbourg  was  a  French  surgeon  of 
great  skill,  who  would  willingly  attend  any  call  from 
the  General  should  his  services  be  required.  Where- 
upon Amherst,  not  to  be  outdone  in  politeness,  sent 
in  with  the  letters  and  messages  trom  the  wounded 
French  a  basket  of  pineapples  "  for  the  heroic 
Madame  Drucour.''  To  which  the  heroine  replied 
by  graciously  "  begging  General  Amherst's  accept- 
ance of  a  basket  of  good  French  wine."  After 
which  pleasant  interchange  of  civilities  down  went 
the  flags  of  truce,  and  roar  went  the  guns,  mortars, 
and  "  haubitsers "  as  Jam  Wolfe  called  them ;  and 
the  combatants  proceeded  at  their  hardest  to  give 
full  employment  to  the  surgeon  of  skill,  as  well  as 
to  the  burial  parties. 


I 


'I 


'i 


ii 


.SJ 


:».  :;i 


iri  ; 


ri" : 


264 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


The  grunt  of  the  pieces  and  the  scream  of  the 
projectiles  were  incessant.  Our  siege  train  was 
heavy  and  numerous,  and  served  not  only  by  artil- 
lerymen, but  by  soldiers  from  the  line  regiments 
and  by  gunners  from  the  fleet.  Louisbourg  was 
quite  a  mine  of  explosives.  From  the  smoke  that 
floated  over  it  there  was  a  never-ending  roar,  and 
the  ramparts  were  edged  with  a  collar  of  fire ;  and 
from  all  the  ships  in  the  harbor  there  were  constant 
broadsides.  Our  fleet  had  no  practice,  as  we  trusted 
at  first  entirely  to  the  land  batteries.  What  the 
noise  would  be  like  when  Boscawen  began  I  had 
really  no  idea. 

On  the  night  of  the  9th  of  July  the  French,  many 
of  them  shamefully  drunk,  made  a  desperate  sortie  on 
a  redan  near  the  sea.  They  drove  in  Forbes's  red 
grenadiers  and  killed  Lord  Dundonald,  but  Major 
Murray  arriving  with  some  highlanders  drove  the 
enemy  out  and  chased  them  into  the  fortress. 

On  the  13th  a  deserter  arrived  and — ^bad  luck  to 
him! — pointed  out  the  position  of  the  magazine. 
The  next  night  Bastide  began  his  first  parallel. 
The  same  night  the  frigate  Arethuse,  commanded 


I'' 


THE  SECOND  SIEGE. 


265 


\ 


by  the  brave  Vauquelin,  was  towed  through  the  ob- 
struction at  the  harbor  mouth  and  escaped  in  the 
fog.  Amherst  was  dehghted  that  she  had  gone,  for 
it  meant  so  many  guns  less  to  annoy  us ;  but  Bosca- 
wen  was  very  angry  and  issued  such  orders  that  any 
further  attempts  at  escape  proved  impossible.  The 
ArethusCy  however,  came  to  a  bad  end  after  all, 
having  been  captured  after  she  reached  France  by 
the  Thames  and  Venus, 

The  siege  progi'essed  busily.  When  off  duty  the 
men  enjoyed  themselves  reasonably,  but  to  nothing 
like  the  extent  that  Pepperrell's  crusaders  had  done. 
The  chasing  of  shot  was  now  carried  on  on  strictly 
commercial  principles.  For  every  thirteen-inch 
shell  the  finder  got  a  dollar;  a  ten-inch  one  was 
worth  half  a  dollar;  an  eight-inch  one,  a  quarter 
dollar.  Large  shot  were  worth  twopence  each,  and 
small  ones  a  penny.  It  was  curious  to  see  Mr.  Salt- 
enstall,  the  Commissary,  examining  these  old  pro- 
jectiles, and  paying  cash  down  for  such  as  he  con- 
sidered could  be  used  again.  Many  a  hole  was  made 
in  Louisbourg  by  the  shot  which  first  felt  powder  in 
French  guns. 


.  .<. 


V"- 


t. 


i 


■     'I 


3 


266 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


The  men  were  well  looked  after.  There  was  no 
drunkenness.  The  provost-marshal  stove  the  casks, 
destroyed  the  huts,  and  pulled  down  the  tents  where 
any  spirituous  liquors  were  sold  without  special  per- 
mission ;  and  there  were  no  liquors  sold  in  the  rear. 
The  men^s  drink  was  spruce  beer,  half  a  gallon  a 
day.  "Five  quarts  of  molasses  make  thirty-two 
gallons  of  beer,"  said  the  General ;  "  each  gallon  will 
cost  less  than  a  penny;  the  best  spruce  is  half  a 
mile  in  the  rear  of  the  centre  brigade,"  and  further, 
"  it  is  an  advantage  to  the  njen  not  to  drink  the  beer 
till  it  is  ten  days  old."  And  the  food  had  to  be  good 
and  cheap,  or  the  General  would  know  why.  He 
cared  nothing  for  the  law  of  supply  and  demand. 
"No  baker,"  he  ordered,  "shall  presume  to  take 
more  than  twopence  a  pound  for  his  bread ! " 

Meanwhile  attempts  were  not  wanting  to  relieve 
the  beleaguered  city.  A  certain  Boisherbert  arrived 
on  the  north  side  and  was  sent  to  the  right  about  on 
the  Miray  road  by  Lanky  Jam,  our  ever-active  brig- 
adier. Off  Cape  de  Gata  Admiral  Osborne  fell  in 
with  the  Toulon  fleet  for  Louisbourg,  and  wiped  it 
out.    Another  relieving  squadron  was  chased  by 


THE  SECOND  SIEGE. 


2t)7 


i 


/ 


Admiral  Hawke  up  the  Charento  and  forced  to  re- 
lieve themselves  of  all  their  guns  and  stores  by 
throwing  them  overboard — for  which  relief  Hawke 
gave  them  due  thanks. 

At  Louisbourg  Lanky  Jam  was  indefatigable.  On 
the  IGth  of  July,  early  in  the  evening,  he  made  a  rush 
at  the  pickets,  drove  them  in,  seized  Gallows  Hill, 
and  began  to  entrench  three  hundred  yards  from  the 
Dauphin  bastion,  the  enemy  raining  langrage  on 
him ;  and  in  the  intervals  the  sound  of  his  picks  and 
spades  could  be  heard,  for,  langi-age  or  no  langrage, 
"the  darling  of  the  soldier"  never  ceased  from 
working.  The  fifth  night  from  that  was  a  terrible 
one  for  the  French.  One  of  "Wolfe's  bombs  fell  on 
to  the  sixty-four-gun  ship  Celehre  and  set  her  on 
fire ;  she  set  fire  to  the  Entrepreuant,  a  seventy-four- 
gun  ship ;  the  Entreprcnant  blew  up  and  set  fire  to  the 
Capricieux^  another  sixty-four-gun  ship,  and  several 
smaller  craft;  in  the  blaze  the  besieging  batteries 
rained  in  shot  and  shell ;  and  the  only  two  remain- 
ing vessels,  the  Prudent  anu  Bienfaisani,  had  to  bo 
towed  out  of  danger,  while  the  men  in  the  boats  were 
pelted  with  shot  not  only  from  the  northeast  batter- 


268 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


-m  I, 


nr 


■y'f  • 


ies,  where  it  was  thought  they  were  escaping  to  sea, 
but  from  the  guns  of  their  own  burning  ships. 

Next  night  the  barracks  in  the  citadel  caught  fire ; 
and  soldiers,  sailors,  and  people  in  desperation  tried 
to  put  it  out  and  save  Drucour's  lodgings.  Under 
the  rampart  close  by  were  the  casemates,  one  with 
wounded  officers,  the  rest  with  women  and  children 
seeking  shelter ;  before  these  was  a  barrier  of  timber, 
which  was  catching  alight,  when  the  women  rushed 
out  into  the  storm  of  shot  that  ever  more  furiously 
poured  into  the  hapless  city. 

"Horrible!  Horrible!"  I  heard  Brigade-Major 
Barre  say. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Colonel  Bastide, "  but  what  would 
you  have  ?  If  the  French  had  not  built  a  city  to  be 
shot  at,  and  put  themselves  inside  it  to  ruin  us,  we 
would  not  be  here  to  destroy  them.  It  was  they 
who  courted  the  horrors ;  we  are  ending  the  horror 
by  making  it  impossible  for  them  to  repeat  it." 

"  Dear  sir,"  said  Brigadier  Wolfe,  "  when  the 
French  are  in  a  scrape,  they  are  ready  to  cry  out  on 
behalf  of  the  human  species ;  when  fortune  favors 
them,  none  more  bloody,  more  inhuman." 


THE   SECOND   SIEGE. 


269 


» 


"  It  is  our  turn  now,"  said  Admiral  Boscawen, 
"  I  shall  want  you  to-night,  Mr.  Ardyne." 

And  that  night  tho  charts  were  out  in  the  Ad- 
miraPs  cabin,  and  I  was  marking  on  them  a  way 
through  the  obstructions  into  the  harbor  for  the 
purpose  of  cutting  out  the  two  remaining  men-of- 
war. 

"  We  shall  want  two  boat  squadrons,"  said  Ad- 
miral Boscawen :  "  one  for  the  seventy-four,  one  for 
the  sixty-four;  which  will  you  look  after?  The 
seventy-four  ? " 

"  Yes,  sir,  if  you  please,"  said  I. 

"  Then  to  look  after  the  sixty-four  we  must  have 
another  good  man.  Let  me  see.  There  is  Mr.  Cook 
— ^just  the  man !  I'll  have  him  on  board  to-morrow 
morning,  and  you  can  give  him  the  benefit  of  your 
local  knowledge.  You  will  go  in  Captain  Laforey's 
boat ;  Mr.  Cook  will  have  charge  of  Captain  Balfour's. 
And  mind  you  get  the  ships  up  into  the  northeast 
harbor  in  such  a  position  that  their  guns  can  at 
once  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  quay  curtain.  Let 
no  time  be  lost." 

Certainly  no  time  was  being  lost  on  shore.    A 


270 


englishman's  haven. 


:t  • ' 


W- 


parallel  was  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the  ram- 
parts, and  our  pickets  were  along  the  foot  of  the 
glacis  firing  up  at  the  French  in  the  covered  way. 
Gun  after  gun  was  being  knocked  out  of  the  embra- 
sures. The  Dauphin  bastion  and  the  King's  were 
peeling  off  in  masses  before  the  shot;  the  roofs 
were  riddled;  the  wooden  houses  were  constantly 
bursting  into  flames ;  and  the  stone  buildings  were 
crumbling  down  beneath  that  awful  storm  of  plung- 
ing iron  and  bursting  bomb. 

Acting-Master  Cook  came  aboard  the  Namur  and 
spent  the  morning  with  me.  He  was  a  tall,  quiet 
man  who  had,  so  he  told  me,  begun  life  as  a  collier's 
boy.  He  afterwards  rose  to  distinction,  being  no 
other  than  the  well-known  navigator  who  discovered 
New  South  Wales.  From  the  many  portraits  that 
have  appeared  of  late  his  face  is  as  well  known  as 
his  Majesty's  on  a  half-crown. 

Mr.  Cook  went  over  the  charts  with  me.  He 
listened  to  all  I  had  to  say  about  currents  and  eddies 
and  set  of  tide,  and  the  thousand  other  things  likely 
to  be  useful ;  and  together  we  compiled  a  memoran- 
dum of  the  chief  things  worthy  of  notice. 


THE  SECOND  SIEGE. 


271 


A  busy  day  was  the  25th  of  July.  At  noon  a 
signal  was  made  from  the  Namur  for  a  hoat  to  bo 
sent,  and  in  response,  as  previously  arranged,  there 
came  a  barge  and  a  pinnace  from  every  ship  of  the 
fleet.  But  they  did  not  all  come  at  once,  but  in  twos 
and  threes  at  irregular  intervals  during  the  after- 
noon, and  instead  of  mustering  near  the  Xamur  they 
went  off  to  Sir  Charles  Hardy's  squadron  lying  off 
the  harbor,  and  took  up  their  station  on  the  seaward 
side  of  the  ships,  so  as  to  be  hidden  from  the  enemy. 

Each  boat  was  manned  by  a  full  crew  armed 
with  muskets,  cutlasses,  axes,  and  pistols,  and  it  was 
commanded  by  a  lieutenant  or  mate.  A  stubborn, 
reckless  lot  were  our  seamen,  with  flesh  the  hue  of 
mahogany,  and  as  hard  and  tough  as  the  oldest 
Honduras.  Even  the  tails  of  the  five-foot  cat  failed 
to  make  some  of  them  feel.  Hard  in  the  shell  they 
were,  and  yet  a  noble  lot,  but,  unlike  many  of  the 
men  I  meet  with,  I  do  not  think  they  were  in  any 
way  better  than  the  seamen  of  to-day. 

As  the  night  fell  a  cold,  thick  fog  came  rolling  up 
over  the  sea,  and  in  the  fog  the  boats  lay  quiet  till 
midnight.    Then,  while  still  in  the  fog,  the  signal 


272 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


I 


was  given  by  Captain  Laf orey,  and  six  hundred  men 
started  for  the  welcome  duty.  Great  as  had  been 
the  soldiers'  deeds,  we  sailors  had  resolved  to  surpass 
them. 

I  was  in  Captain  Laforey's  boat  at  the  head  of 
one  division ;  at  the  head  of  the  other  was  Captain 
Balfour,  piloted  by  Acting-Master  Cook. 

Silently  we  rowed  in  the  fog  in  two  long  lines, 
the  bow  of  one  boat  just  a  yard  from  the  next  boat's 
stern.  Side  by  side  we  threaded  our  way  past  the 
Island  Battery,  through  the  sunken  ships  and  within 
hail  of  the  town.  Luckily  the  fog  thinned  as  we 
neared  the  land.  I  must  say  that  we  kept  distance 
admirably;  and  our  course  was  not  swerved  from 
even  for  a  foot.    At  last  we  were  near  enough. 

"  Now,"  said  I  to  Captain  Laf  orey. 

In  a  whisper  the  word  was  passed  back,  and  each 
line  of  boats  became  three  lines. 

"  Grive  way,"  said  the  captain. 

And  at  full  speed  our  lines  made  for  the  ships 
that  loomed  in  front  of  them. 

One  made  for  the  bow,  one  for  the  quarter,  one 
for  the  gangway  of  each  ship. 


"'H^M' 


nil 


;  >  , ' 


I.. 

I- 
i 


U 


,  s 


in      i 
lii  ■  ■  ' 


i  't 

! 
! 

- 

. 

i 

M- 

'   1 

: 

^; 

J 
1 

1    • 


---, 

* 

(  t 

' 

^ 

!       ■ 

t>  : 

i 

> 

Down  came  the  Ulied  ensign  ;  up  went  the  crom  of  St.  George. 


THE  SECOND  SIEGE. 


273 


"  Way  enough ! "  said  the  captain. 

There  was  a  shot  from  the  French,  who  had  dis- 
covered their  danger.  Almost  at  the  same  instant 
the  leading  boats  were  alongside.  Captain  Laforey 
scrambled  up  on  to  the  gangway,  followed  by  our 
crew  and  the  crews  behind.  A  glint  and  flash  of 
steel,  a  few  shots,  a  struggle  of  men  at  hand-grips,  a 
cheer,  and  back  the  French  were  driven.  There  was 
a  cheer  from  the  bow,  and  then  a  cheer  from  the 
stern,  as  the  stormers  crowded  on  board  like  so  many 
cats,  some  in  at  the  ports  and  windows,  some  over 
the  rail.  Some  ran  to  cut  the  cables ;  some  ran  to 
the  wheel ;  some  sprung  up  the  rigging  to  set  sail. 
Down  went  the  French  officers;  down  went  the 
men;  surprised  and  overwhelmed  by  the  fury  of 
the  assault,  they  could  do  but  little.  Down  came 
the  lilied  ensign ;  up  went  the  cross  of  St.  George. 
One  man  would  have  clubbed  me  with  a  musket,  but 
a  quartermaster  sent  him  sprawling  on  deck  while 
the  weapon  was  in  the  air ;  another  lunged  at  me 
with  a  pike,  to  be  gripped  by  the  scruff  of  the  neck 
by  Captain  Laforey  just  in  time  to  spoil  his  aim. 

The  garrison  heard  the  cheers,  and  knew  that 
18 


'J 


sh  :< 


274 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


^ii 


m 


ih  >J 


•3 


their  ships  were  in  danger.  At  once  from  all  the 
seaward  guns,  from  the  Half -moon,  from  the  Manre- 
pas,  from  the  Beach,  from  the  Dauphin,  a  storm  of 
shot  came  pelting  on  friend  and  foe,  riddling  the 
falling  sails  and  splintering  the  spars. 

"  Get  back  into  the  boat,  Mr.  Ardyne,"  said  Cap- 
tain Laforey,  "  and  tow  us  out." 

When  I  got  round  to  the  bow  the  men  on  the 
forecastle  had  a  hawser  over  ready  for  me  to 
seize,  and  every  mooring  had  been  slipped  or  cut. 
Another  boat  came  up  and  took  its  rope,  another 
and  another.  Then  the  boats  were  linked  on  to 
each  other  and  slowly  began  to  pull. 

For  a  minute,  during  which  the  batteries  fired 
at  us  furiously,  we  tugged  at  the  oars,  but  the  ship 
remained  motionless. 

I  guided  the  boats  half  round,  and  tried  again. 

The  Prudent  would  not  even  swing ! 

Meanwhile  from  the  Bienfaisant  were  heard  the 
cheers  of  victory,  and  soon  above  the  roar  was 
audible  the  measured  beat  of  the  oars,  and,  the  fog 
dissipating,  she  could  be  seen  under  way. 

Again  the  men  tugged  their  hardest. 


THE  SECOND  SIEGE. 


275 


"  She's  aground ! "  roared  the  captain  from  the 
forecastle.  "  Bring  the  boats  alongside.  We  must 
set  her  on  fire." 

It  was  a  great  disappointment;  but  there  was 
no  help  for  it.  The  tide  had  gone  down  unusually 
low,  and  the  Prudent,  an  unusually  deep  ship,  was 
fast  on  a  shoal. 

A  schooner  was  close  by. 

"  Capture  that  schooner  and  bring  her  here ! " 
shouted  Captain  Laforey. 

Off  went  a  lieutenant  and  boarded  her,  and 
brought  her  alongside. 

And  all  the  time  the  batteries  were  busy,  and 
the  shot  cut  up  the  rigging  and  fell  among  the  men. 

As  the  schooner  touched  the  line-of -battle  ship 
there  crashed  forth  a  few  straggling  shots  towards  the 
British  batteries,  Captain  Laforey  having  depressed 
the  loaded  guns  and  discharged  them  harmlessly. 

"  Now,  then,"  shouted  he,  "  overboard  with  all 
the  prisoners  into  the  schooner." 

And  we  hurried  them  off  at  the  run,  and  left 
them  to  make  the  best  of  their  way  to  land. 

Before  the  last  had  left  us  the  Prudent  was  on 


'I) 

5 


276 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


■1;? 


''"'M 


1  ' 


M 


fire  at  five  different  points  j  and  when  her  destruc- 
tion was  certain  We  regained  our  boats. 

And  all  the  time  the  gi*eat  guns  from  the  ram- 
parts were  going  on  us,  and  the  guns  from  our 
investing  batter  3S  were  going  on  to  the  town. 

Soon  the  harbor  was  lighted  with  the  blaze  of 
the  ship.  Her  half-set  sails  in  holes  and  strips,  and 
her  rigging  cut  to  ruin  by  the  shot  from  the  shore, 
guided  the  flames  as  they  rose.  One  flag  only  was 
left  her,  that  on  her  gaff,  which  blew  stiffly  in  the 
breeze,  with  the  full  glare  of  the  light  on  it. 

I  was  told  afterwards  the  French  burst  into 
tears  when  they  saw  this  one  flag  to  be  the  British 
ensign.  The  bowsprit  went;  the  foremast  went; 
the  mainmast  went ;  the  mizzen-topmast  went.  Last 
of  the  masts  went  the  mizzen.  The  gaff  and  it  fell 
together.  And  with  them,  last  of  all,  fell  this  de- 
fiant flag  that  the  flames  threw  their  glare  upon  but 
refrained  from  touching. 

As  the  bowsprit  dropped  away  the  French  bat- 
teries ceased  firing,  and  waited  for  the  inevitable 
explosion  which  was  to  rend  the  air  and  shake  the 
land  and  sea  at  the  moment  the  colors  fell. 


I 


'"■■'WBS 


THE  SECOND   SIEGE. 


277 


When  the  firing  stopped  the  Bienfaisant  was 
almost  out  of  range,  towed  by  Cook's  boats  into  the 
northeast  harbor ;  and  our  own  flotilla  was  well  on 
its  way  to  join  them  from  the  ship  we  had  destroyed, 
which  was  the  last  of  the  French  fleet  in  Louis- 
bourg. 


w 


!'l 


•'r, 
-A  '' 

m 


.1  ! 


:■  -•  ^ 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


!    i 


if 


1^ 

I     i 

.'Is 


pi 
..I  If 


'  I"    *    1 


t 

t 

*'■  'i 
? 

it- 


u.  i; 


j! 


V. 


THE   FAREWELL. 

[ERY  good,  Mr.  Ardyne,''  said  the  Admiral  to 
me  next  morning.  "Very  good.  You  did 
your  piloting  well.  It  would  have  been  bet- 
ter if  we  could  have  saved  the  Prudent,  but 
that  was  not  your  fault.  You  will  come  ashore 
with  me,  I  may  want  your  aid." 

Captain  Balfour  and  Captain  Laforey  were,  I 
heard,  to  be  posted,  but  what  the  Admiral  wanted 
with  me  I  could  not  divine. 

"Have  you  Commodore  DurelPs  chart  of  the 
harbor  with  you?''   asked  the  Admiral,  when  the 
boat  was  ready. 
"  No,  sir.** 

"  Get  one.    Be  sharp !  ^ 

We  landed  at  Flat  Cove,  and  walked  to  General 
Amherst's  headquarters. 

"I  congratulate  you  on  your  boat  attack,  Ad- 


•|v 


THE  FAREWELL. 


279 


miral,''  said  Amherst.  "It  was  a  pleasure  to  see 
such  excellent  work." 

"  Ah !  Thank  you.  It  was  very  well ;  it  cleared 
the  road,  that  was  the  gi-eat  thing.  I  am  going  to 
give  Drucour  another  shaking  up  to-night.  I  in- 
tend to  bombard  him  from  the  harbor  from  six  of 
my  heaviest  ships.  I  have  a  young  man  here  who 
knows  every  inch  of  the  anchorage  and  piloted  the 
boats  last  night.  I  have  brought  him  with  me  so 
that  we  can  settle  on  the  positions.  Perhaps  your 
engineer  would  like  to  have  a  say  to  him  on  the 
subject.    I  will  send  on  the  Nanmr,  the — " 

An  orderly  rode  up  with  a  letter  from  Brigadier 
Wolfe. 

"Excuse  me,"  said  Amherst,  opening  the  let- 
ter.   "Why,  what»s  this?    Read!" 

And  Boscawen  read : 

"  There  is  a  flag  of  truce  over  the  breach  in  the 
Dauphin.  A  Colonel  Loppinot  is  here  with  instruc- 
tions to  treat.    I  await  your  orders. 

"  Jam  Wolfe." 
"  What  do  you  think  of  that  ? " 
"  Think  of  it ! "  said  the  Admiral,  "  why,  hooray, 


ji 


'•■i      ' 


H 


•; ' 


Vj 


?   s 


i    1 


P^'-r 


u 


280 


ENGLISHMAN'S   HAVEN. 


of  course !  But  at  the  same  time  it  is  a  shame  that 
ho  didn't  wait  till  ho  had  had  a  touch  from  the  old 
Namur.'^ 

All  that  day  the  flag  of  truce  was  flying,  and 
there  was  much  running  to  and  fro.  Drucour 
wanted  bettor  terms  than  Amherst  would  give ;  so 
Loppinot  was  sent  back;  then  D'Anthonay  came 
out  to  propose  a  less  rigorous  arrangement,  and 
Amherst  sent  him  back;  then  Loppinot  started 
with  a  defiance,  and  Drucour,  thinking  better  of  it, 
sent  somebody  after  him,  so  that  the  men  in  the 
batteries  saw  a  pursuit  and  capture  of  Loppinot 
outside  the  fortifications,  and  then  the  return  of  the 
two  officers  together;  then  out  came  D'Anthonay 
again,  running  at  full  speed,  and  making  signs  and 
bawling,  "We  accept!  we  accept!'*  And  he  was 
conducted  to  Boscawen  and  Amherst  at  head- 
quarters. 

At  eleven  o'clock  that  night  the  long  day  came 
to  a  close  by  the  articles  of  capitulation  being 
signed ;  and  at  eight  o'clock  next  morning  I  marched 
in  with  Forbes's  grenadiers,  when  they  took  pos- 
session of  the  Dauphin  gate.    Soon  afterwards  I 


THE  FAREWELL. 


281 


saw  the  French  thro  ;■  down  their  arms  and  wipe 
away  the  tears  of  anger  and  chagrin  that  they  could 
not  check.  There  were  over  fifty-six  hundred  pris- 
oners, and  in  the  battered  fortress  we  found  two 
hundred  and  twenty-one  cannon  and  eighteen  mor- 
tars— a  very  different  state  of  affairs  to  that  at  the 
surrender  in  1745. 

Soon  after  the  fall  of  the  city  Admiral  Boscawen 
sent  for  me  to  his  cabin,  and  told  me  he  was  about 
to  sail  for  England.  He  reminded  me  that  Mr. 
Secretaiy  Pitt  had  suggested  I  should  have  the 
command  of  a  sloop  if  I  proved  fit  for  the  charge ; 
and  he  said  he  was  pleased  to  say  that  he  had  every 
reason  to  be  satisfied  with  my  conduct,  and  had  in 
consequence  appointed  me  master  and  commander 
of  the  Argus,  then  lying  in  Halifax  harbor  to  be 
fitted  out  for  the  attack  on  Canada  next  year. 

"The  Argus,'"  said  the  Admiral,  "is  an  appro- 
priate name  for  your  ship.  She  has  not  got  ninety- 
eight  eyes  open,  but  the  sixteen  she  has  you  will 
make  the  best  use  of — if  you  please,  sir." 

"Ninety-eight,  sir!"  said  I,  unthinkingly.  "I 
thought  Argus  had  a  hundred  eyes." 


282 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


: 


Ui  i    > 


•^\ 


■■'■  V    i ,  , 


iJ 


"  So  ho  had !  So  he  had ! "  said  the  Admiral, 
pleased  to  have  caught  me.  "But  did  you  never 
hear  he  gave  them  a  rest  in  turn  by  sleeping  with 
only  two  at  a  time  ? " 

I  apolo.gized  humbly  for  my  ignorance,  and  next 
day  I  went  home  with  Commodore  Durell,  leav- 
ing the  great  Admiral  to  sail  for  England  and  be 
thanked  by  Parliament  and  received  with  much 
honor. 

At  Halifax  I  spent  the  winter  in  peace  and  hap- 
piness among  my  friends.  I  had  done  but  little, 
and  yet  I  seemed  to  be  sought  by  every  one,  prob- 
ably because  luck  had  at  last  come  my  way.  Only 
one  thought  no  more  of  me  than  before,  and  that 
was  Mary,  and  the  reason  was  obvious. 

Being  of  her  old  opinion,  \n  e  agreed  to  get  mar- 
ried "as  soon  as  Canada  was  taken  from  the 
French'' — a  somewhat  speculative  arrangement, 
perhaps,  but  one  quite  in  keeping  with  the  confident 
expectation  of  the  colonists  that  the  days  of  the 
French  were  over. 

In  the  spring  I  was  despatched  by  Admiral  Du- 
rell to  Boston  in  my  new  ship ;  and  while  there  I 


ir. 


THE   FAREWELL. 


283 


paid  a  visit  by  invitation  to  Sir  William  Pepperroll, 
who  was  still  living  in  gi-eat  state  at  Kitteiy. 

In  the  course  of  conversation  I  said  something 
about  Mary  Kervan  and  her  father's  death.  Pep- 
perrell's  head-clerk,  who  was  present,  pricked  up 
his  ears  at  the  name. 

"  Kervan  1 "  he  said ;  "  that.  Sir  William,  is  the 
account  I  was  speaking  to  you  about  this  morning." 

"  Yes,  I  remember,"  said  Pepperrell. 

"  It  would  be  well  to  mention  it.  Sir  "VViUiam." 

"  Certainly !  Certainly !  Allow  me  to  congrat- 
ulate you  on  your  coming  marriage,  sir,"  said  the 
old  man.  "  Whatever  you  may  regret,  I  do  not 
think  you  will  ever  regi-et  making  that  lady  your 
wife.  With  regard  to  Mr.  John  Kervan's  death,  I 
am  not  prepared  to  say  that  it  is  altogether  incon- 
venient, inasmuch  as  it  enables  us  to  close  an  ac- 
count which  has  been  open  in  our  books  for  many 
years.  Sixteen  years  ago  Mr.  Kervan  deposited 
with  us  a  sum  of  £5000,  on  which  interest  was  to  be 
paid  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent.  Since  that  deposit 
was  made  we  have  heard  nothing  of  Mr.  Kervan 
until  this  moment.    The  consequence  is  that  the 


■f. 


1^ 
t'5 


1? 


in 


''s  ■ 


•*.' 

;>'. 


Ij-il 

'i 


:1 


i        I 


284 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


money  has  been  accumulating  with  us  at  compound 
interest,  and  unless  Mr.  Kervan  has  left  a  will,  which 
I  suppose  he  has  not,  it  belongs  undoubtedly  to  the 
future  Mrs.  Felix  Ardyne ;  and  we  shall  have  great 
pleasure  in  transferring  it,  either  to  her  account,  or 
deal  with  it  in  any  other  way  she  may  instruct  us." 

"  Then,  Sir  William  Pepperrell,"  said  I,  in  aston- 
ishment, "  you  have  had  the  money  all  the  time ! " 

"What  do  you  mean  by  the  money?  I  know 
of  no  special  money.  A  sum  was  deposited  with  us 
to  account  for  on  demand,  and  I  know  not  where  it 
came  from,  nor  was  it  my  duty  to  mention  it  until 
it  was  asked  for,  as  under  the  present  circum- 
stances. If  it  pleases  you  to  identify  any  particular 
money  with  a  good  work,  you  can  consider  it  to  be 
the  £5000  which,  had  I  not  had  it,  I  should  have 
been  unable  to  contribute  out  of  my  own  pocket 
towards  the  colonial  expedition  to  Louisbourg — an 
expedition,  sir,  which  did  its  work  in  its  own  way 
as  well  as  the  present  one ;  an  expedition,  sir,  whose 
achievements  the  home  government  despised  and 
practically  condemned  when  they  basely  returned 
Cape  Breton  to  France.    That  mistake,  sir,  has  cost 


^ 


THE  FAEEWELL. 


285 


them  a  pretty  penny;  with  the  sacrifice  of  much 
treasure  they  have  again  had  to  do  what  we  did  for 
them  cheaply  and  well ;  and  now  the  end  of  it  all  is 
that  Louisbourg  is  to  te  no  longer  a  stronghold  for 
French  or  English,  but  a  dead  city." 

"  A  dead  city !  "  said  I.     "  How  is  that  ?  " 

"Mr.  Pitt  is  going  to  blow  it  up,  sir!  Its  forti- 
fications and  its  houses  are  to  be  levelled  with  the 
gi-ound,  that  in  case  of  a  change  of  parties  in  our 
home  government  the  French  will  have  nothing  to 
boast  of  if  it  is  again  thought  becoming  to  make 
them  a  present  of  Cape  Breton." 

And  it  was  my  fate  to  see  the  last  of  Louis- 
bourg. When  in  October,  1760,  after  the  capture 
of  Montreal  I  put  into  the  harbor,  I  found  the  de- 
stroyers at  work  under  Commodore  Byron,  the  same 
Byron  who  was  the  Wac/er  midshipman,  in  whose 
adventures  so  much  interest  was  at  one  time  taken. 

On  the  17th  of  that  month  I  was  present  when 
the  sappers  and  miners  blew  up  the  last  of  the  once 
mighty  bastions.  It  was  a  public  holiday,  and  a 
small  crowd  had  gathered  to  see  the  firing  of  this 
last  mine.    Accompanying  me  was  Major  Tarling, 


•1 

1.  - 

i  1 

1' 

1        t 

:  I 


286 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


who  had  been,  like  me,  through  the  Canadian  cam- 
paign. 

We  had  turned  to  retrace  our  steps  to  the  ship, 
when  there  came  towards  us  from  the  crowd  an  old 
wrinkled  Indian  and  a  bent  old  woman.  At  first  I 
did  not  recognize  them. 

"  You  found  Kervan  ?  "  said  the  Indian. 

"  What !     Pujook ! "  said  we  both. 

"Yes,  the  Cormorant!"  replied  Pujook.  "The 
old  Cormorant  now.  But  he  prophesied  truly.  See. 
Alive  is  Eyes-that-weep.  The  locust  has  bitten  the 
field-mouse  and  will  stay  in  the  land  forever.  And 
soon  the  grass  will  grow  in  Englishman's  Haven  on 
the  grave  of  the  dead  city." 

"That  is  wha*.  General  Pepperrell  called  it," 
said  I. 

"  Pepperrell ! "  said  Pujook.  "  Aye !  Pepperrell 
is  dead  now,  and  Louisbourg  is  dying.  And  the 
Cormorant  will  soon  die.  But  he  knows  his  friends 
and  does  not  forget  them.  You  are  to  be  the  hus- 
band of  Kervan's  daughter  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"Then,"  said  Pujook,  taking  a  curiously  orna- 


wmmm 


THE  FAEEWELL. 


287 


it," 


mented  bowl  from  his  girdle,  "  keep  that  in  remem- 
brance of  the  old  man  who  once  nursed  her  on  his 
knee.  Keep  it  in  remembrance  of  him  from  whom 
Le  Loutre  stole  an  only  child.  Keep  it  in  remem- 
brance of  the  father  who  slew  his  boy's  murderer, 
aided  by  the  father  of  the  girl  you  are  to  make 
your  wife.  It  is  the  oorakin  by  whose  spirit  I  have 
prophesied ;  but  the  spirit  goes  with  him  who  says 
— Farewell ! " 

And  without  another  word  the  Cormorant  was 
gone ;  and  Eyes-that-weep,  without  a  word,  as  if  a 
mere  phantasm,  passed  away  with  him. 

And  when  we  reached  the  harbor  we  saw  that 
the  last  of  the  hewn  stones  brought  from  France  at 
the  building  of  the  city  was  being  borne  on  board 
a  brig  bound  to  Chebucto,  otherwise  Halifax,  where 
it  remains  to  this  day.  And  from  another  ship  a 
few  sheep  were  running  ashore,  the  parents  of  the 
flock  that  now  graze  on  the  grassy  mounds  that 
cover  the  ruins  of  the  once  proud  fortress  on  Eng- 
lishman's Haven. 

"Ha!"  said  I,  "it  reminds  me  of  Greenock. 
Henceforth  this  is  to  be  the  land  of  peace." 


ii 


m 


It  r 


!/ 


I  '-1  J 


n  ■  t 


H  ' 


m-s  •• 


I 


Ii 


I 


1      -i 

I?; 

U                          I  ■ 

lii 

288 


ENGLISHMAN'S  HAVEN. 


"Peace?"  said  Tarling.  "What  is  peace?  A 
.state  of  happiness  in  which  war  is  made  on  every 
animal  but  man —  " 

"  And  the  dog,"  I  suggested. 

"  The  dog  is  a  prisoner  of  war ! " 

"  And  so  is  the  sheep ! " 

And  with  the  sheep  I  began.  To  the  sheep  I 
have  returned,  and  with  them  I  will  end,  though  I 
would  have  ended  better  with  the  oorakin. 


?    A 

ivery 


iep  I 
ghl 


